The Power Of Human Sacrifice
by Kamui Senketsu
Summary: Naruto made a promise to her love Shisui that she'd never stop remembering the sunrise. She promised Itachi to protect Sasuke and their village. She promised herself she'd live up to Hinata's image of her. She promised Jiji she'd never forget her will of fire. And she swore to the Shinigami Danzo would pay. Massive AU. WARNINGS: Character Death/Really foul Language.
1. Prologue: Death Of A Sweetheart

**A/N: (I don't or Naruto or the cover image).**

* * *

She didn't know what she was supposed to do. It was supposed to be easy. Ignore the pain, loneliness, and the despair. Smile. Just smile and maybe they'd finally see her. Maybe they'd finally understand she didn't want to hurt anybody. That whatever she had done to make them hate her, she was sorry for it everyday. But they didn't care about that. They said she was a demon. A monster. An abomination. But she didn't feel like a monster.

She looked in the mirror every morning, and saw what she saw when she looked at them. Two eyes, a nose, a mouth, ears, and hair. Sure, she had defining features, like sunshine blonde hair, azure blue doe eyes, and peculiar thin whisker-scars. But, didn't everyone have things that made them different from everyone else? Wasn't that what made them human? Individuality? She didn't find anything remotely grotesque about her appearance to gain such unfavorable remarks and snarling glares from people. At least, not to her. Maybe she had somehow fooled herself into not seeing what she really was? Maybe she was ugly, and her brain tricked her into seeing a human face.

Or maybe...

Maybe it was inside. Maybe she really was a monster inside, and she just didn't know it yet. That was a horrifying thought, and she vehemently hoped she was dead wrong. But... but it had to be true... right? Too many people had said so for it not to be. So, she guessed she was. She had to be a monster.

She pressed a tiny, six year old hand against her heart. Flat against her chest, her palm felt a strong drum-like, rhythmic beating. Was her heart... dirty? Was that why no one cared if it hurt inside? Did... did monsters not deserve to live to? Weren't there nice monsters? She liked to think so. She felt like she was good. And even though she suffered such deep sadness all the time, she never wished it on anyone else. Because she didn't like pain. So she didn't want anyone to have to feel like that, especially if it was caused by her. Did the simple sight of her cause pain?

She was sorry.

She really really was... And as they- angry, villagers on the anniversary of the Fourth's death and her birthday - stomped on her, and spat, and cursed, she told them so. She said she was sorry over and over again. Whispering desperately through split, bleeding lips, staring feebly through swollen shut blue-black eyes, and cringing as the hits only came harder at the sound of her voice. No one took pity at the sight of her tears. In fact, such a show of helplessness only seemed to fuel their cruelty. Make it stronger. Want to hurt her more. Some laughed. They jeered and mocked her. And the six year old felt something she hadn't known was within her snap, shattering to pieces at the malicious guffaws of the villagers.

Eventually, they left her in the abandoned alley. Bleeding, black spots dancing across her vision, tiny body aching something fierce, broken, and left for the ANBU to drag off to the hospital. She had been content to stay happy and oblivious of the world. But the villagers wouldn't let her.

They ruined her.


	2. Don't Call Me Sunshine

A/N:(I don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy)

* * *

After the heinous beating on Naruto's sixth birthday, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, put his foot down. All the attackers were rounded up by irritated ANBU members and sent to Ibiki for a bit of fun before being thrown behind bars. At age eight, Naruto could tell you flat out that something of that magnitude never happened again. Hokage-jiji made sure of that. But... things were somehow still the same. People she didn't know glared at her, and muttered heartless names under their breath, people still sold her food better fit buried in some dumpster somewhere, and parents still ushered there kids away from her, muttering _' no no honey, she's a bad child, don't go near her'_.

No one touched her.

But soon, Naruto realized they didn't have to. Their eyes did the worst to Naruto. Yes, the comments had been toned down, people no longer spit on her as she walked by, and some just flat out ignored the young blonde's existence entirely. But when they did look at her... they looked at her with such chilling eyes. They chilled the blonde down to her very soul. And she knew...

_'This is what hatred looks like.'_

Two years ago, Naruto would've asked what she had done to deserve such pure, untainted loathing. But now, knowing she'd be brushed off, or cursed out? She didn't waste her time trying to smile and show them she wasn't some monster waiting rip out their throats. She didn't waste her time trying to point out, if she really wanted to harm them in any way shape or form, she would've tried ages ago. And yes, _tried,_ because really, what would a dangerously skinny, little six year old do to a fully grown adult when she could barely stand without collapsing in hunger?

_'Dumbasses.' _She thought viciously. _'The whole lot of them are fucking dumbasses.'_

Naruto refused to smile anymore. Nobody saw it anyway. She didn't even have anything to truly smile for. She was poor as dirt and always, _always_ alone. So she scowled and glared at anything that moved in a way she didn't like instead. She was tall, subconsciously she found it peculiar because she could barely scrape together stale cup ramen and bad milk every other day. But consciously? She used her height to her advantage. Kids that made fun of her got slugged, their belongings taken, and a friendly warning to keep a lid on it to their parents if they knew what was good for them.

Nobody told.

And Naruto sold their shit in the red light district. She bought clothes that would last. Nobody asked where she got them from. And Naruto was just fine with that. The blonde knew she looked a real picture, walking around in a baggy track jacket, a surgeon's mask (which she wore to stave off the scent of rotting garbage, sex, and human bodily functions in the red light district), and an ankle long skirt. Her hair was long, falling to the back of her knees, tied in a half assed ponytail with a burnt orange ribbon near the ends of her hair. Her bangs were shaggy, spiky, and unruly, framing her scowling face by falling past her chin and into her eyes. Her fellow orphans had taken to calling her, _'The Demon Yankee'. _The young blonde found it amusingly fitting. Hell, she'd even found an old _katana _length, red-brown wooden _bokken_ a few weeks back, conveniently behind a recently abandoned _kendo_ dojo. Looting the place, she'd found plenty of gear to care for her new weapon, and random crap to sell in Konoha's back alleys. She'd stashed her haul of cash away in her rotting apartment floorboards beneath her bed. Of course, after cackling like a villain and literally rolling gleefully around in it. Some of the cash went to her (only) favorite villagers in the entire village on a binge night of ramen. The Ichirakus. It had been worth it. Naruto had a night full of laughs, a warm environment she still somewhere deep deep _deep _down craved, and left with a bloating, beyond satisfied stomach.

Naruto knew she was nothing more than a common delinquent. And yeah, she had a sob story, but didn't all orphans have one? At least she had a roof over her head. No matter how crappy the insulation was, no matter how bad the view was (behind a whore-house), and no matter how the water temperature didn't go above arctic. At least the Hokage had gotten her one. Albeit, _had to_, because a 3 year orphan being kicked out of the orphanage had to have somewhere to go. But _still. _She had something. Even if it was worth shit.

A sob story wasn't an excuse for the things she'd done. She knew she could ask Hokage-jiji for help. But she had her pride. It was scoff worthy, wasn't it? A no name, parentless, clanless, robbing, bullying, orphan had pride. Not even scoff worthy. It was ludicrous. Incredulous. But she did. Naruto Uzumaki had a shit ton of pride that made her loathe the thought of asking for help, which really all boiled down to not wanting to feel weak. And somewhere inside was a festering voice that grew louder and louder, more potent, more deadly every time she robbed someone's home, or beat the crap out of some smarmy kid.

_'Do I think Jiji only acts like he cares? Does he really want to help me or...? Do I think he pities me?'_ She asked herself.

_Isn't being deserving of pity the same thing as being weak?_ The voice murmured.

Naruto balked.

_Are you weak?_

"No." Naruto snarled aloud, startling some poor old woman carrying a basket of oranges half to death. _"Fuck_ no."

She wouldn't ask for help.

For some reason, the voice seemed... disappointed? The blonde forced herself not to think about it.

Naruto looked around, noticing as usual, in the evening no one had time to stop and glare at the _'demon-brat'._ So she got down and helped the harmless, half blind looking old lady pick up her fruits, and lied to herself by thinking she was only doing it because orange was her favorite color, and she'd hate to see it be soiled. Naruto was rewarded with a rare word of thanks, to which she replied an eloquent _'Whatever' _and slunk off.

The tall blonde was on her way from the Ninja Academy, it being around five thirty because she had chronic detention. The blonde had begged Jiji as soon as she could open her swollen shut eyes after her sixth birthday, to enroll her. He did, reluctantly, and gave her a pat on the head, telling her to 'Do your best'. Naruto soon learned her best wasn't good enough. Her _chakra _control was as shitty as her old sofa, her _taijutsu_ was pitiful, and village history was going to make her slit her fucking wrists one day. Telling Iruka-sensei of her imminent suicide due to his drab tone about "The great hero Minato Namikaze, our beloved savior and Fourth Hokage" had earned her a viscous bop on the head from Sakura-slut which quickly turned into a full out slug-fest and then somehow ended up with Naruto having detention and Sakura home free. Of course, Naruto demolished the irrelevant pink banshee but _still._ Why was she left to suffer a two hour lecture (consisting of Iruka-sensei's _demon head no jutsu_) alone? And why the _hell_ was sensei so long winded? _Fuck. _She hadn't even _started_ the ruckus that time.

Okay... She kind of did... but Sakura didn't need to freaking hit her. A simple _'shut up'_ or something or other would've sufficed.

The blonde grumbled to herself under her breath, and cut through a steadily darkening alley, nearly going into cardiac arrest when something _warm_ darted past her feet. Naruto blinked at her own stupidity, noting dryly it was some fat cat with a stupidly large red bow tied around it's ear. The cat narrowed its yellow feline eyes and hissed at her, fangs glistening in the sunset with warning.

The blonde scoffed.

"Get the fuck lost, dust mop."

_"Mraw?" _The cat croaked, cocking its head to the side curiously.

"Che. I'm out." Naruto grunted, shifting to walk past the fat thing, only for something _else_ to come shooting out in front of her.

But from above.

"Wh-what the bloody hell-?!" The blonde gurgled, stumbling back, and falling on her bum.

The blonde looked up, ready to start cursing up a balk worthy storm when she noticed the idiot that had fallen out of the _bloody_ sky was wrestling with the stupid, now screeching and writhing cat.

Naruto gaped as the idiot- now classified as a black, high collared, jumpsuit wearing Uchiha-bastard- tapped some place on the little bow wearing monster's neck.

It immediately fell limp.

The Uchiha-bastard, (c'mon they're practically all pompous asstards that like to throw the blonde in the slammer) held down his black earpiece, static breaching the awkward silence of the alleyway.

_"Bzzt-..._This is Shisui here, I've retrieved the _dem-_ I... I mean the cat Tora who swallowed that one important scroll... Over."

A small static voice answered shortly after, the newly dubbed Shisui replying with a chirped _'will do, over and out!'._

Now that Naruto got a good look at him, he couldn't be much older then herself, and she noted with silent irritation he was taller than her. His hair was an unruly mess of pitch colored lazy curls, his skin was white as freshly fallen snow, and his eyes were as deep as dreams; an odd shade of obsidian, with a hint of crimson if they caught the light just right, and framed by thick, long, raven feather lashes. Strapped to his back was a black hilted _tanto_ in a brown leather sheath, and a kunai pouch was strapped to his left thigh.

He turned to Naruto, and to her utter surprise, smiled.

"Did I startle you Sunshine?" Shisui asked kindly. "I'm sorry."

Though, Naruto couldn't have been affected by the entirely sincere and dazzling apologetic smile he gave her, because her vision had gone entirely red with rage as soon as 'Sunshine' left the- soon to be dead carcass'- mouth. The young Uchiha's eyes bulged as Naruto drew her _bokken _from the back of her jacket collar viciously, practically melting the soles of her ninja sandals as she darted towards the black haired moron, intent to smash in his face. Within the blink of an eye, Shisui tossed Tora's limp form into the air, grabbed Naruto's armed wrist, and twisted her around, trapping the _bokken_ between their bodies and rendering it entirely ineffective. Then, the bastard had the nerve to _smoothly_ catch Tora by the scruff of its neck, all the while staring Naruto straight in the eyes.

The blonde blinked unintelligently at their close proximity, their breaths mingling, before her face caught aflame.

"Wh-what the _fuck_ do you think you're _doing?!"_ She squeaked pitifully, only furthering her own mortification.

"I could ask you the same thing, Sunshine. Do you even know _how_ to use that thing?" Shisui asked incredulously, as if he wasn't trapping a complete stranger against him with an unconscious cat under his arm. "The key is strength and speed babe, not bludgeoning with a baseball bat. _Kami!_ Your form is _terrible!"_

"B-b-b-b-_BABE?!_" Naruto raged.

Shisui grinned, spinning his blonde captive around again so she could stand upright without his arm's support. Then, the Uchiha positioned himself behind the still sputtering blonde, tucking Tora under his arm snugly before wrapping his hands around Naruto's smaller ones, and her bokken. He gently, yet firmly moved her hands into the correct position to hold a sword, his chin resting on her shoulder. Shisui's warm breath ghosted over her blood red ear.

"_This_, is how you hold a _katana,_ Sunshine." He breathed, smirking before his form wavered, and flickered out of existence.

_"WHAT THE FUCK?!" _The blonde exploded, her face nearly purple with rage. "WHO THE _FUCK _DO YOU THINK YOU ARE YOU PANSY? DON'T FUCKIN _TOUCH_ ME LIKE WE'RE BUDDY BUDDY LIKE THAT! AND DON'T CALL ME SUNSHINE YOU ASSTARD! MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI, _AND DON'T YOU FUCKIN FORGET IT, __**DATTEBAYO!**_"

'_Huh… Naruto eh?'_ Shisui smiled goofily. '_My little sunshine maelstrom.'_

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed at the sound of his surrogate granddaughter's howls of rage across the village. He lit up his pipe and grumbled to himself.

"Looks like my little knucklehead just made a new friend."

He then _accidentally_ dropped his pipe, setting his burdensome paperwork alight. The ANBU hidden in the office shivered involuntarily at the manic gleam in their wizened leader's eyes as he watched the papers burn.


	3. I'll Catch You

**A/N: (I don't own Naruto or the cover image.)**

* * *

Naruto placed the required amount of ryo on the counter for old man Teuchi, waving goodbye with a grumbled yet not unkind, '_later old man'._

"Come again soon Naruto-chan!" Teuchi and Ayame called cheerfully in return.

Naruto left, the sun was setting, and she had to get home before Iruka sniffed her out like the terrifying blood hound he was for skipping out on detention. Today, she'd gotten in trouble for turning Kiba's left eye into an ugly plum. The shithead shouldn'tve been sneering such demeaning remarks about her taijutsu. Never mind if it was _true_, Naruto didn't want to freaking _hear _it.

She knew she sucked already. Having it constantly thrown in her face wouldn't change anything but the nature of her mood. Hopefully dog-breath had finally gained some fucking intelligence via orphan style beating he'd been given.

Yes, Naruto currently sucked at ninja_ taijutsu,_ but that didn't mean she couldn't fight. You needed to be able to protect yourself and your gear if you wanted to survive in the slums.

You fight or you die.

Period.

She may have had shitty form, but she punched like a sack of bricks and knew how to take a hit and roll with it. That's why she still breathed til this day. A grade in a book wouldn't change _that._

"Hmph." The blonde tutted.

Really, Naruto should've known better than to take the same alley shortcut she had last friday when she met the Uchiha-freak.

There he was, standing in all his tall, dark, and annoying glory, trying to look cool as he leaned against a stack of dusty abandoned crates. When he noticed her, his face brightened and he adjusted the hitai-ate on his forehead to perfection.

"Naruto!" He crowed, like they were old friends or something equally idiotic.

"Who the fuck are you?" Naruto snarled, feeling sick glee as she watched his face fall.

'_Is he really that stupid? Of course I'd remember the douche that practically molested me!'_ She inwardly raged.

"Honestly Sunshine, I'm wounded." Shisui grabbed at his heart dramatically, hunching his shoulders as if trying to lift a heavy burden. "Why, don't you remember how you confessed your undying love at first sight to me when we last met? It was only three days ago babe."

"_N-NANI?!" _Naruto squeaked. "You _liar! _That is _not_ what happened and you _know _it! Like I'd ever fall for a douchebag, girlie eyed pansy like you!"

"So you do know me eh?" Shisui asked, immediately straightening up, smiling at the blonde charmingly. "The eternally awesome Shisui Uchiha."

"H-_huh?_" Naruto asked intelligently.

'_Is this guy bipolar or something?'_

"Well, when I greeted you, you asked who I was." Shisui elaborated kindly. "Which was a really mean thing to do, as you clearly know who I am, Sunshine."

"I told you not to fucking call me that you dickhead!" Naruto snarled.

"See! You _do_ remember!" Shisui laughed.

Naruto felt something flutter in her tummy at that sound. When he laughed… dare she say it…? When Shisui laughed… he looked… cute?

'_Ew, what am I thinking?'_ The blonde muttered, wrinkling her nose in distaste._ 'Kami no. He. Is. **Not**. Cute. He's a thorn in my side.'_

"What kind of Uchiha are you?" Naruto asked rudely, trying to distract herself from her previously disturbing thoughts.

"Hm?" Shisui hummed curiously. "Whaddya mean by that Sunshine?"

Naruto's brow twitched in irritation at the disgusting, and _totally_ inaccurate term of endearment, but tolerated it for just a bit.

"I mean, why are you talking to me? Laughing and smiling an' shit? Aren't Uchihas supposed to be emotionless, 'holier-than-thou', pompous fuckers with ice sticks so far up their asses its a wonder they can walk?"

Shisui blinked at that for quite some time.

Naruto just stood there, either waiting for him to get angry or a fucking tumbleweed to roll by.

When he finally reacted, it was in an entirely different way than Naruto hoped for. (She would admit to a not-so-guilty pleasure of pissing people off, and making them uncomfortable).

Shisui laughed.

Again.

But not just any laugh. He was shuddering with amusement. The Uchiha was laughing so hard, tears were collecting at the corners of his eyes, and he was practically folded over by the waist.

"Y-y'know… You've g-got the most repulsive m-mouth I've ever h-heard. M-my Mom would fl-flay me if she heard m-me say 'hell'. B-b-but the funny thing is, wh-what you said w-was actually t-t-tr-true!" Shisui gasped between his dying down snickers, looking up at Naruto with amused pink flushed cheeks.

Naruto blinked in bewilderment.

'_He has got to be the weirdest, most singlehandedly annoying douche I have ever met.'_ The blonde decided.

The lanky delinquent then turned on her heel and made a hasty retreat.

"W-wait!" Shisui blurted, bounding after her with an enthusiasm that should've been criminal.

"What the- don't _follow_ me dickhead!" Naruto squawked. "I'm trying to get _away_ from you!"

The blonde put her long legs to good use and ran with everything she had. She just so happened to be the fastest person in her class.

'_Try and keep up with me Uchiha! Bite fucking dust!'_

_You being the fastest didn't stop him from making you defenseless the other day._ A voice in the back of her head deadpanned.

'_Oh shut up.'_ Naruto thought viciously.

"Oooh I just love it when they run!" Shisui called gleefully from behind.

Naruto felt her blood run cold, and a shiver run down her spine.

'_This freak is going to actually fucking chase me?' _She inwardly screamed.

Apparently yes, Shisui would actually chase her. Because he did. All over the damn training fields. And the bastard could've caught her at anytime. Instead, the sick piece of work waited until she was near exhaustion to finally give a burst of freakily inhuman speed and tackle her to the grass from behind.

"I've got you…" He crooned darkly.

Honestly, Naruto did try to stop the terrified scream she released at his creepy tone. She really _really_ did.

Then he had to go and make her feel weird by saying softly: _I hope I can catch you all the time, Naruto._


	4. And So It Begins

** I don't own Naruto _or_ the cover image.**

* * *

Shisui had made it his personal mission to stalk Naruto when he didn't have ninja duties.

No matter how many times the blonde told him to stuff it, fuck off, or _drop dead,_ he just wouldn't _go away._ He also didn't seem to know the meaning of the phrase "personal space". For example, that Thursday afternoon, on training field 7, (also a rare day the blonde wasn't serving, and/or skipping out on detention after school) Shisui peered into Naruto's irritated blue eyes, his own obsidian searching deeply, as if he could find the meaning of life within her eyes' depths.

"What?" The blonde finally snapped, having it up to her chin with the moron ruining her lazy time.

"Do you want me to teach you my family sword style?"

"_What?" _Naruto shot to her feet, eyes wide as Shisui followed at a more sedated pace.

"I _said-_"

"Let me rephrase that, moron." Naruto flatlined, ignoring Shisui's amused smile. "_Why?"_

"Why what?" He baited cheekily.

"Don't be an ass, Shisui."

Suddenly, Shisui's face flooded crimson, and he stared at his self proclaimed blonde 'bestie' with wide, black eyes. For some inexplicable reason, Naruto found her face flooding red too, and she slapped her palm against Shisui's too close face, shoving him away roughly.

"What the fuck are you going all red for you idiot?" Naruto huffed, clenching her fist to keep her hands away from her cheeks to pat them bashfully.

"Why are _you_ red?" Shisui shot back.

"I asked you first stupid!"

"I can tell you'd be able to negotiate for a comrade's life successfully in the future Naruto." Shisui said in a rare tone of blandness.

"Oh shut up! Just answer the question and stop trying to change the subject!" Naruto growled.

Shisui surprised, and (dare she say it…) _worried_ her when he moved further _away_ from her.

'_Oh shit, is the moron okay? Usually he's crowding me and practically in my goddamn lap.' _The blonde inwardly fretted, and then balked. '_Wait… why the shit should I care if this idiot is sick or something? It's not like I actually care or anything… in fact, if he died off, I'd probably dance on his fresh grave.'_

_Yeah, keep telling yourself that. _A familiar voice murmured.

'_Stuff it.' _Naruto sneered.

Shisui looked up at the blonde through his ridiculously long lashes, apparently having told her what was wrong already.

"A-ano… nani? Come again?" The blonde asked, noticeably embarrassed.

"You heard me! Don't make me say something so girly again Naruto!"

'_I-is he… pouting?' _She wondered, horrified.

"No dickhead, actually, I didn't hear you, so stop acting like a _pussy_ and just _tell _me already!" Naruto exploded.

"I said that I noticed that was the first time you said my real name okay! Happy? THERE! I SAID IT!"

'_Y-yeah...' _Naruto cringed. '_He's pouting.'_

_"_Calm down moron, no need to get your panties in a wad." Which translated from Naruto speak to: _Don't get embarrassed, I won't make fun of you._

"So, do you want me to teach you?" Shisui asked, apparently feeling energetic again.

Naruto decided to ignore the moron's mood swings. She'd drive herself crazy trying to figure out if he was sane or not.

"Isnt that like, against clan rules or something?" Naruto stalled.

Honestly, she didn't know _what _to say. Naturally, she wanted to become a better fighter, but then again, she would be _asking _for it. She would be asking for help. And as stupid as it was, that made her feel weak.

_It's okay to feel weak sometimes though, right?_

She ignored the voice.

Shisui's dark eyes took on a mischievous gleam, and his lips stretched into a smirk, looking the true part of a villain, oblivious to the blonde's internal conflict.

"Heh, what they don't know won't hurt them~" The raven purred.

Naruto openly gaped at what had to be, the most _un-_Uchiha like Uchiha she'd ever met.

"So it _is _against the rules?!" She hissed.

"Well, it's not in written ink, so _technically,_ I wouldn't be doing anything wrong."

"You crook!" Naruto blurted, wincing inwardly at how devastatingly hypocritical that statement was coming from her. "I dont want to be thrown back in juvie by your arrogant brethren for, _'stealing clan secrets'._ 'Cause I _know _it'll somehow be seen as my fault if we get caught."

"Then we won't get caught." Shisui shrugged.

_"SHISUI!" _Naruto yelped, distressed.

"Relax, Naruto." Shisui placated, smiling winningly to convince her. "I won't let anything happen to you." He promised.

Face now boiling red at the Uchiha's charming smile, Naruto yanked his hitai-ate down mercilessly over his eyes, and huffed. The blonde turned away abruptly as the dork yelped and tried to fix his head gear.

"I don't need some girly pansy like _you _to protect _me._" Naruto proclaimed haughtily. "I've been fine all by myself up until now and I'll be fine in the future. Besides, who said I agreed to let you teach me anyways?"

"Well, if you let me teach you, you _really _won't need protecting." Shisui reasoned. "You could only benefit from it. And besides, if you get good now, me and you could… well… maybe we could fight side by side together in the future."

Naruto's shoulders tensed. Honestly, she didn't know what to say. No one had ever left her because she'd never had anyone to begin with. So to have him… Shisui, this almost stranger with her, and not-so-indirectly saying he planned to stay in her life… She didn't know how to deal with it. Did he really honestly and innocently want to be around her or… did he pity her like the old man?

_You're weak._ The voice murmured.

'_What the...? No I'm no-'_

_You're weak._ The voice said resolutely. _You're weak, but Shisui wants to help you get strong. What's wrong with that?_

'_W-well… I...'_

_And so what if the Hokage might pity you a bit? What decent person wouldn't? Your life so far has been pitiful. You know that's not all there is. That old man cares about you. And Shisui wants to too. So __**let **__him._

'_Why're you so talkative and loud all of a sudden?' _Naruto asked indignantly.

She didn't get a reply.

"Naruto?" Shisui called, probably realizing she wasn't going to re-start the conversation.

The delinquent blonde whirled around, practically shoving her finger up Shisui's nose as she rudely pointed at him. The boy went comically crossed eyed as he stared at the tip of Naruto's orange painted fingernail.

"Listen up girly-boy, 'cause Naruto Uzumaki's got something to tell you." She declared, displaying a bravado she most certainly wasn't feeling, yet, gaining the Uchiha's undivided attention nonetheless. The moron even _snapped _to attention.

Naruto unknowingly allowed her eyes to lighten up their glare.

'_This… this guy is really something.' _She thought, something hard in her chest softening slightly.

"I'll let you teach me, girly-boy, _but-_" Naruto continued, trying to ignore the urge to laugh as Shisui's ecstatic expression deflated, albeit, not by much. "_-But, _you better not forget I'm doing this for my own benefit! It's entirely selfish and I hate you and I'm only going to tolerate you so I can selfishly leech off of you."

Both kids pretended not to notice how Naruto's voice wavered slightly, and that what she said actually made sense, and wasn't just some defense mechanism that was full of holes.

"Okay!" Shisui chirped. "Then consider class in session!"

"W-wha?!" Naruto floundered. "But I _just_ got _out _of school! I don't want to start _again._ And this is entirely unexpected you prick!" The blonde whined.

"'_A ninja must always expect the unexpected'._" Shisui quoted cheekily.

"Yeah?" Naruto griped. "Do your ninja rules say anything about removing my foot from your ass?"

"I can tell this isn't gonna be easy." Shisui observed flatly.

"You better believe it, pansy-boy."

And so it began.


	5. Taijutsu Training

**Some badly attempted ninja action mojo in this tiny chapter. I don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy.**

* * *

One month after Shisui became Naruto's "sensei", the blonde was showing a boatload of improvement. You can imagine how ecstatic Iruka-sensei was (which he had to go and kill the mood by saying: _'If only you'd improve your studies just as much'_) The looks on her classmates faces when she took Kiba down with an actual shinobi _kata _and not some ghastly haymaker she probably saw in a drunken bar fight was priceless.

Though, Shisui, being the clever bastard that he was didn't teach her too many of the Uchiha taijutsu katas. He said the goal was to create something of her own, and then hypocritically taught her Asuma Sarutobi's fighting style he'd copied with his sharingan during one of their spars. Because, apparently, Shisui was acquainted with big shot _Jounin._

Unfortunately, somewhere down the line Naruto actually started not liking feeling like a crook. When she became a delinquent, she honestly didn't care. She barely had any morals to speak of. But recently… something had changed.

Something in _her_ had changed.

Using Asuma's fighting style made her feel like a thief. It wasn't the same with the Uchiha taijutsu or swordsmanship. Shisui was an Uchiha, and he was the one who wanted to teach her in the first place. Asuma, on the other hand, never said she could learn his taijutsu. So, the blonde had gone to Hokage-Jiji and asked about Asuma's usual haunts. (Imagine her surprise that someone had kids with that old pervert). She'd been pointed to a BBQ joint and waltzed right in and up to a burly man with a beard and typical Sarutobi tan. She eloquently said after her approach:

"Shisui's teaching me your taijutsu that he stole with his sharingan."

Asuma had blinked along with the pretty red eyed woman he was with.

"Okay…" He finally drawled in a rumbling, but not unkind tone."Cool."

Naruto had been pleasantly surprised and bowed her head politely with greeting.

"Naruto Uzumaki." She offered.

"Asuma Sarutobi."

"Kurenai Yuuhi."

"Pleasure." Naruto said, and then turned around and left.

Since the lazy Sarutobi obviously didn't care, Naruto had no reason to feel like a thieving slimeball, even though she was. And thus, Shisui continued her lessons.

Don't get the wrong idea, the blonde loved that she was becoming a strong ninja, and she was really (silently) grateful to Shisui for taking the time to teach her. She just wished the Uchiha wasn't so… touchy feely. It made her uncomfortable. The only people that had ever touched her without meaning to cause her harm were Hokage-Jiji, the Ichiraku's, and Iruka-Sensei. (Who sometimes threw chalk at her or bopped her on the head for daydreaming during detention tutoring).

But that was it.

They didn't give her such undivided attention or hands on corrections or smile for what seemed like hours when she finally got something down. They didn't speak to her in soft tones or murmur in her ear or remain agonizingly patient. And they most certainly didn't make her insides flutter or do backflips when they smiled at her. She didn't like it too much because it was unfamiliar territory. And also somewhat mortified that she was kind of getting _used _to it.

The blonde shook her head, and slid into her new starting taijutsu position. Naruto slid her bare feet apart in the dew blanketed grasses of training ground 7, and brought her fist up, the left parallel with her chin, and the right her temple. Classic boxer stance. She bounced a little, trying to get a feel for the baggy black shinobi pants Shisui had bought for her a few days ago.

He'd been rewarded with a bright, stinging red handprint across his cheek for peeking at Naruto's underwear after correcting the position for her hips for her new kata.

Though, the next day, Naruto had learned the bastard was just trying to get her size from the back of her yankee skirt. When the blonde had screeched at him that he should've just _asked,_ he cheekily replied: '_Where's the fun in that?'_ And _winked_ at her! The moron actually fucking _winked _at her!

She knew her skirt was _beyond_ impractical for taijutsu practice and had learned that little gold piece of intelligence through hard earned experience. She kept tripping over the damn thing and nearly face-planting. And yes, _nearly, _because Uchiha-moron always caught her at either the last possible second trying to seem cool, or yanked her up, whirled her around, and _dipped_ her. These situations always ended in a Uchiha smirk the blonde was _(still)_ truly astounded Shisui could pull off.

"Naruto-chan, don't hunch your shoulders so much, loosen up!" Shisui called from behind her, perched and crouching in a tree.

The blonde immediately reevaluated her stance, earning a '_good'_ from her baka-sensei.

"'Kay, I'm going to activate the traps I set up all over the training field before you arrived. And I want you to avoid them with taijutsu and evasive manuvers only. Be warned though Sunshine, they're viscious."

"Hm," Naruto nodded. "Noted."

"Okay. _Ichi, Ni, San_… _Hajime!_"

A kunai wizzed by the blonde's ear and severed a nearly transparent ninja wire Naruto honestly hadn't noticed before. Immediately, a gargantuan log swung at impossible speeds from Naruto's right.

Bouncing on nimble toes, the delinquent danced around the log's trunk by a hair's breadth, uppercutting the straw dummy that sprang up out of the freshly dug ground after. The blonde's bare fist reduced the dummy to splinters that rained down to the grass at her feet, triggering even more nasty traps that hurled shuriken and kunai at her person from all directions. The blonde heard the sound of the huge log connecting with a resounding bang against a handful of trees behind her, which triggered _more _traps.

Naruto backflipped over a volley of kunai, successfully executing a series of several back handsprings, a line of shuriken lodging into the grass mere nanoseconds after her feet left the ground. The yankee vaulted herself in an impressive 360 spinning summersault, batting away another straw dummy with a swift scissor kick. Landing in a crouch, Naruto nimbly rolled backwards away from four more practically sized logs that shot out of the ground. She hopped up, skipped on her tip-toes over the logs,and drew her own kunai to deflect the last of the shuriken that whizzed out from the surrounding trees.

_Whoooosh!_

_Clash! Clang! Clang!_

Flipping off of the tiny wooden platform, she tossed away her weapon, skewering another dummy to her right that swung from behind the cover of the trees in the center of it's head, and landing behind the last to her left that flew in similarly, snapping it's nonexistent neck.

Seeing no more traps, Naruto looked up at Shisui's tree that was now all the way across the training field, as she had been bouncing around all over the place. Wiping away the small droplets of perspiration at her hairline with her forearm, Naruto tried to even her breathing and stop panting so explosively. Shisui grinned, giving his impromptu protege a goofy twin thumbs up before calling out:

"Great job Naruto-chan! I see no places in need of improvement! We'll move onto incorporating jutsu into your taijutsu form next lesson."

Naruto had no idea how she could see him blushing from all the way across the training field, being the dense idiot she was, she never noticed that she still had her mask off for training.

And she certainly didn't notice she had just smiled at Shisui for the very first time.


	6. Ne, Naruto-chan?

** I don't own Naruto or the cover image.**

** Enjoy.**

* * *

After three months of knowing Shisui, Naruto could say, (grudgingly) that she had grown comfortable with him. And it showed, because she was leaning against a tree in training ground seven after a monstrous saturday morning to afternoon of training, with Shisui's head in her lap.

They were both just bumming out, enjoying the sun's lazy spring rays and staring up at the clouds. Naruto didn't have the heart to shove the moron away after everything he'd done for her.

_And you don't really mind him being so close, as long as he can't see how red your face gets._

_'Shut the hell up!'_ Naruto griped. _'That's not true. I hate it! He's way too clingy!'_

_Yeah, keep saying that. Maybe you can actually convince yourself it's true. _The voice drawled.

_'Che. Whatever.'_

"Ne, Naruto-chan?" Shisui murmured suddenly.

"Nani?" She asked, not looking down from the sky, her hands absently running through his feathery black locks.

"You're like, the best student ever." He said, pleasantly surprising her. "If I specifically point out to you what you did wrong, you never make the same mistake twice. So… how come… u-umm... how come-"

"Go on," Naruto muttered, looking down from the sky to glare at him with a menace she didn't feel. "Say it. I sucked, right? You can say it. It's true. I won't get mad."

_'I couldn't get mad at you for telling me the truth, because I know you wouldn't do it to hurt me.'_

Shisui just blinked up at her, leaving Naruto to wonder when he had figured out the difference between her real scowls and glares, and the tough front she put up.

"So, why did you-" The raven winced. "-'suck'?"

Naruto snorted sardonically at his scrunched up nose.

'_You really __don't__ want to say anything to hurt me, do you? Even if I need to hear it.'_ She thought softly.

"Nobody ever bothered to teach me correctly." She found herself admitting. "Iruka-sensei's too busy with grading all the time. And when he can help me, it's tutoring for the academic shit I miss while daydreaming in class. Even then, his attention is half on his next lesson plan. All the other teachers wouldn't piss on me if my_ corpse_ was on fire."

Shisui's face went slack, and he shot up, turning around to face the blonde properly.

"N-Naruto! I'd definitely pee on you!" He blurted.

"Gee _thanks,_" The blonde deadpanned, inwardly smirking at Shisui's rapidly boiling face. "I'll definitely look you up if I ever achieve my life long ambition of becoming a fire hydrant."

"W-wait!" The Uchiha waved his hands around frantically. "I-I didn't mean it like _that-"_

Naruto really tried to stop the bark of laughter she released. When she realized she couldn't hold it, the delinquent colapsed into a fit of poorly supressed giggles.

"It was a _joke _dipshit. Calm _down. _You're such a spaz."

Shisui gaped at the blonde stupidly, only causing her to laugh even harder.

Naruto just felt strangely _bubbly. _And light. She couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed so innocently. Soon, Shisui was beaming at her, realizing the tall blonde wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"It _was_ kind of funny, wasn't it?" Shisui asked contemplatingly, shaking his head and chuckling lightly. "_Kami_ Naruto, I said I'd _pee _on you!"

"Dude, that's _sick!_" Naruto gasped out.

"Why didn't I think of a water jutsu or something? Ugh!"

"Because your a spaz!" Naruto sang, shoving his shoulder playfully.

"I am not!" Shisui yelped, shoving her back.

"You _are!_"

"Nu-uh!"

The two continued playfully shoving each other back and forth, until Shisui decided to tackle the blonde from her side. The young duo toppled over, still releasing sporadic giggles here and there.

After they calmed down, Naruto lying on her back, and once more gazing skyward, with Shisui's head resting on her abdomen, he breached the companionable silence once again.

"Ne, Naruto-chan?"

"Nani?"

"Why are you always alone?"

Naruto's small, content smile withered to nothing, and her throat closed, feeling a familiar void begin to swallow her heart as she thought about that.

But, something was different. Though, not necessarily in a bad way... Being reminded so directly of her lonliness... it didn't slam into her like it usually would.

She thought back to the chilling, hate filled eyes of the villagers, and how she could outwardly dismiss them, but they tore her apart inside. For some reason she couldn't hope to find, Shisui's kind grin flashed behind her eyes.

"I look alone." Naruto finally said, her tone unusually thoughtful. "But I don't _feel _alone." And she silently admitted, _'At least... not anymore.'_

When Shisui laced his fingers with hers tentatively, she didn't pull away.

* * *

"Ne, Naruto-chan?" Shisui asked after five months of knowing the blonde.

"Nani?" Naruto asked, blinking at the taller boy.

Shisui's hands were folded behind his back, and he scuffed the grass of training ground seven with his sandal like a shy toddler.

"I said I..." He trailed off, tone getting softer and softer.

"Look," Naruto huffed, crossing her arms, clearly miffed. "If you want me to respond, you gotta stop mumbling so I can actually hear what I'm responding _to_."

"I said I want you to meet my best friend." Shisui said louder, rubbing at the back of his neck nervously.

"I thought I was your best friend?" Naruto asked before she could stop herself, feeling like a total idiot as soon as the words left her mouth.

"No," Shisui drawled carefully, as if explaining something to a small, petulant child. "I specifically remember referring to you as my 'bestie', Naruto. Itachi, is my best friend. We're practically brothers. There's a difference."

"Hmph!" Naruto huffed, turning away childishly, but was really trying to hide the happy smile threatening to stretch across her face.

The blonde humored the friendly Uchiha, who had dragged her all the way across the the village, only stopping when they reached their destination.

A foreboding looking forest full of behemoth trees and unnaturally thick shadows.

A place, if by herself, even the bad ass _'Demon Yankee' _wouldn't touch with a mile long pole. Training ground 44. Otherwise known as: _The Forest of Death. _The blonde shivered involuntarily, nearly jumping out of her skin when something _moved _within the shadows of the huge trees behind the fence. She clutched at her thundering pulse in relief when she noticed it was just a boy around her age.

The boy had pale skin, depthless black eyes, and pitch black hair pulled in a loose ponytail, his long bangs framing his solemn, handsome face. And were those... _stress_ marks?

Naruto arched a delicate, questioning brow. _'Definitely an Uchiha. Probably a prodigy.'_

"Itachi!" Shisui called cheerfully, startling her out of her musings. "I knew you'd wait for us."

"Contrary to what you may believe, Shisui, I was actually training. And now that I am finished, I will be returning home. Good day." Itachi said, emotionlessly.

_'What a douche.' _Naruto inwardly grumbled.

"Aw 'Tachi-chan, you're so cold to me!" Shisui pouted.

"So _this _is the person you've been spending valuable training time with?" Itachi deadpanned, giving Naruto a brief glance before dismissing her entirely to talk to Shisui.

The blonde's jaw fell to her feet.

_'Aw, __**hell **__nah!' _She inwardly raged. _'Did this pompous fucktard just brush me off? Who the fuck does he think he is? I'll turn your face to hamburger you asshole, __**DATTEBAYO**__!'_

"Hey, Itachi, this is Naruto. She's my 'bestie', so be nice, okay?" The kind Uchiha chirped.

Naruto didn't know what it was... Shisui's tone was _nice_ enough, but for _some _reason... it felt like he was... _threatening _Itachi.

_'Nah that's stupid. There's just no way. Shisui dosn't have a mean bone in his body.'_

"Hn." Itachi grunted.

Was it just Naruto, or did Itachi get _paler?_

_'Pshhh. No way.' _

"Ne, Naruto-chan?" Shisui sang.

"Nani?"

"Let's train!"

"But we just finished training!" Naruto yelped, abhorred.

"You can never have too much training, right Itachi?" Shisui asked excitedly.

"Hn."

"See, Itachi thinks so too."

"Yeah, sorry... I don't speak neanderthal."

Shisui just laughed loudly, while Naruto looked annoyed, and Itachi looked like a freaking mannequin.

And _that _was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between three aspiring shinobi.


	7. SNAPSHOTS

**I Don't Own Naruto. Enjoy.**

* * *

One year after knowing Shisui, Naruto learned something that she admittedly should've already known.

"Oi, Shisui." The blonde called, lagging a few feet behind the kind Uchiha and his stoic best friend in training ground 44.

"Yes Sunshine?" He crooned back, snickering under his breath at her irritated growl.

"How old are you anyway?"

Both Uchihas had stopped in their tracks, turning around and waiting for the blonde to catch up.

"You're joking, right?" Shisui asked incredulously, turning to Itachi. "'Tachi-chan, she's joking... _right?_"

"Hn." The aloof raven grunted.

"Whaddya _mean_ she's dead serious? How could she _not_ know how _old _I am?!" Shisui exclaimed.

"Hn?"

"W-well no... I never actually said when we met, _'I'm ten.'_ And I never said anything about turning eleven two months ago."

"Hn. Hn?"

"Of course I know how old she is!" Shisui huffed. "She's nine now. She turned nine two months ago, and you turned nine in June."

"Hn." Itachi grunted, the side of his mouth turning up slightly.

"Hey... You're right!" Shisui exclaimed. "Now she _does _know how old I am!"

Naruto just deadpanned.

* * *

Two years after knowing the two Uchihas, Naruto had gotten used to Itachi's younger brother Sasuke tagging along on their misadventures or demanding Itachi ditch the blonde and his best friend to train with him instead.

She had also learned Sasuke sat bedside her in class, and was rightfully embarrassed she hadn't noticed that's why a bunch of rabid starstruck girls tried to maul her every morning. Unfortunately, somewhere down the line Sasuke decided they were rivals, going on and on about if he could beat some no name blonde (which he couldn't currently) in a fight, then he could definitely beat Itachi (which he damn well couldn't), and could finally prove to their father he was worth a damn, get out of his older brother by a year's shadow, and become the rightful heir of the Uchiha.

Naturally, Naruto didn't believe it was gonna happen, as Itachi had already skipped several grades via prodigy status, and was in his last year of the academy already. So she had laughed in the youngest Uchiha's face until she was blue, and gained another person's unadulterated hatred.

It was Friday, after training in the forest of death, Naruto having patched up all three of her boys after a particularly nasty run in with a giant tiger. They were all back at her place where she was cooking them all something to eat. Shisui and Itachi made it their personal mission a long time ago to bring her groceries so she wouldn't die of starvation or something.

Of course, she gave them the money to buy the stuff for her now, because after the first few times they showed up with food she felt shitty having them spend their allowance on groceries. The only reason she still allowed them to do it, was because she hated the village marketplace.

It was glare and insult central.

Now, she didn't have to go there and she didn't feel guilty for mooching off of them. Problems solved.

More presently, the blonde had no idea when she had gotten used to the three Uchihas crashing her place for a meal, or just to bum out on her shitty couch. She also didn't know why she had started borrowing cookbooks from Iruka-sensei so she could feed them when they decided to stay for hours long.

She had, at first balked, knowing she was going soft, but then again, she didn't really mind. If Naruto was honest... she kinda liked the company, if she was somewhat honest with herself. Her house felt more like a home with people in it. And Naruto really didn't mind that at all either.

The blonde stood in the kitchen, expertly forming rice balls for her three boys. She pressed her thumb into the back of three of the salty snacks, placing small, ripe, cherry tomatoes in the resulting indentations. She wrapped dried seaweed along the bottom of three more, and the last three she left alone. They looked bland and plain, but she had sweetened the rice for those.

Next, she fried up some cutesie octopus shaped sausages, an omelette, and some shrimp. Plating everything, she placed them to certain spots at her rickety oakwood table, (which she looted from the abandoned apartment next door) and went about making herself some ramen.

None of the chairs at Naruto's table were the same. Originally, she'd only had one, for herself. And it was bright orange.

When she placed her ramen next to the seaweed flavored riceball plate, she inwardly noted how her table seemed less lonely.

Sure, to someone else, an outsider, the chairs would seem useless and unattractive. A garish, plastic orange, one that was covered in scuff marks.

A black wheeled office one with some stitches on the seat, to keep the stuffing in.

A red velvet one that looked like it once belonged in a salon, covered in miscellaneous patches.

And lastly, an old wooden one painted a chipping royal blue.

They looked like garbage, and, they were. That's where she found them, tossed out and forgotten. Unwanted.

But to Naruto, they set her kitchen alight.

Sure, she went dumpster diving for the "new" chairs, and had to use some impressive elbow grease, sewing supplies, and shitloads of bleach and air freshener to clean them up, but they all seemed to just... fit.

Her house was crappy.

It was located behind a whorehouse. And junkies kept up shop in the abandoned apartments surrounding her. But it was a home. The Uchihas... made Naruto a home. Yeah, she cussed them out and made a show of telling them to get lost and go home, but she wasn't angry with everything anymore. Naruto was... _happy_. It was a truly an astounding thought.

_'I'm... happy.' _

She smiled beautifully as she cleaned out a skillet.

_'I'm really happy...'_ She giggled quietly to herself. _'Awesome.'_

Drying up the last of the dishes she'd used to cook, Naruto set them in her orange dish rack, calling out: "Yo dickheads, come eat!"

She heard the sound of her tv being turned off, followed by shuffling bare feet.

First came in Sasuke, taking the blue chair with the tomato flavored rice balls, eyes gleaming creepily at the sight of his favorite fruit, followed by Itachi, who elegantly seated himself beside his little bro in the black chair in front of the secretly sweetened rice balls, and lastly, Shisui ploughed in, plopping himself in the red chair next to the orange one, across from the other two Uchiha.

Naruto collapsed into her horrendous orange chair, pulling apart her chopsticks with a enthusiastic _'Itadakimasu!'_ and began digging in. The three Uchihas followed her lead at a more sedate pace, thanking her and Kami for the grub, before, as usual, Sasuke had to ruin the companionable silence.

"Naruto... " He drawled, left brow twitching slightly in irritation.

"Hmmmm?" The blonde hummed, noodles still hanging from her mouth.

Being the disgusting moron Shisui was, seeing the blonde was distracted, he used his chopsticks to pinch the noodles hanging from Naruto's mouth to cut them, ducking his head under her chin, mouth eagerly open and gulping the salty noodles down.

Itachi shook his head silently, having watched the whole ordeal unfold, rolling his eyes when Shisui winked at him exaggeratedly.

_"Naruto..."_ Sasuke gritted out again. "Why... _Why_ in the name of _Kami..._ _DO THE SAUSAGES LOOK SO CUTESIE?!_" He roared.

Shisui sat at attention at the sudden yelling, relaxing considerably when he realized Naruto still hadn't noticed he'd stolen ramen out of her mouth. He gleefully watched as she slurped up the rest of her ramen, unmoved by Sasuke's murderous look as he shoved an octopus sausage in her face across the table with his chopsticks.

"Well, you see 'Suke-chan," The blonde began conversationally, indifferent to how livid he looked at the nickname. "It's just that, pussies like cutesie shit, and you guys are pussies. Thus, I made you pussies cutesie shit."

"Hn." Itachi expressed his disagreement to that.

Shisui stuffed his face, way used to the blonde's vulgar mouth.

Sasuke... well... Sasuke's face invented a new shade of red.

"WHAT?!" He wailed, shooting to his feet with an audible bang, tableware rattling, expression appalled. "H-how _dare_ y- I am not a- that word _is_\- _I COULD TAKE YOU ON ANY DAY_!" He finally decided.

Naruto scoffed dismissively. "Yeah you could, and get your ass beat halfway to Lightning Country."

Shisui sprayed riceball residue all over the table as he burst out laughing, Itachi hid a small amused smile behind the piece of omelette he'd been about to bite into, and Sasuke sputtered. Incoherent.

Naruto made a show of going back to her ramen as Sasuke sputtered, letting her bangs fall into her serenely smiling face.

_'I always want to stay this happy...'_

* * *

Three years after hanging out, training, and transcending human limitation by practicing the way of the couch potato with the three Uchihas, Naruto began dabbling in fuuinjutsu.

She was surprisingly good at it. A real natural. Hokage-Jiji had happily given her _'Beginner's guide to sealing'_, _'How to create storage tags, flash tags, and stun tags'_, and _'Security seals for Sealmasters in the making' _when she had told him she'd found a new hobby that was legal.

He quickly regretted it when she began blowing training ground 44 all the way to the Land of Snow during her practice runs.

Though, the blonde quickly got the hang of it, finding memorizing the calligraphy and symbols wasn't much harder than hand seals for jutsu. Though, the three Uchihas (save for Sasuke who did it less obviously) admitted she was much better at sealing than they were. Which made her happy, because Naruto thought maybe she'd found her calling.

When she informed the three Uchiha of wanting to be a recon/demolition nin, Shisui actually forbid it. Which earned him a not so subtle offering from the blonde to a one way journey to the intensive care ward in the hospital.

He stopped being ridiculous about it, but still expressed his displeasure over Naruto's decision. Itachi didn't seem too excited about the idea either, and Sasuke? Well, he'd went to training after school with them the next day and handed Naruto a new set of sealing ink and paper. Obviously he was telling her to blow herself up. Needless to say, he'd been gifted a black eye for his unwanted gallows humor.

Things slowly began to change as they grew older.

Itachi graduated the academy early, and quickly rose to the rank of Chunin.

Shisui joined the Uchiha military police, having already been a Chunin, and quickly ranked up to third in command.

Sasuke began dabbling in swordsmanship, and tried to awaken his sharingan.

Naruto ditched her bokken, yankee skirt, and began carrying a real katana.

They all still found time to train and learn from each other.

They grew stronger and steadily together.

* * *

Four years after being the best of friends, (the only one willing to admit it out loud being Shisui), Naruto was nearly frantic with worry.

Shisui had left a month ago on an escort mission with his Chunin squad. Consisting of the captain, an Aburame, a Hyuuga, an Inuzuka, and obviously, Shisui. The Uchiha was second in command, and would have been captain if the Aburame wasn't a senior Chunin.

The escort mission was simple, he was supposed to return after two weeks. But he hadn't. An entire month had gone by and there was still no sign of Naruto's cheerful Uchiha. Everyday she stormed into Hokage-Jiji's office, telling his protesting secretary where she could shove her _'you can't go in there!'_ and demanding the old man to tell her if Shisui was back yet. And everyday the old man gave her the same depressed _'I'm sorry Naruto, I haven't gotten word yet'._ And everyday Naruto dragged herself back home in a thick gloom, locking herself in her bedroom that was protected by security seals to keep out the two meddling Uchihas that persisted in trying to bang down her door by knocking.

Sure, Itachi could just shunshin into the apartment, and Sasuke too because his older brother had taught him how, but they couldn't get past her bedroom seals. The only one who could was Shisui, and that was because he had worked damn hard to be able to disarm them.

_'Shisui, I swear if you're not alright... I'm gonna kill you...'_ Naruto thought feebly.

The downtrodden blonde sighed wearily, curled up into a ball on her side on her autumn orange sheets, and closed her eyes to the quiet night around her.

She didn't know how long she had lied there after leaving the Third's office, but it had to have been a long time, because the sun had set a long time ago, and the moon was in full bloom, at the highest it could be during the tranquil night. Eventually, Naruto's eyes slowly began to drift shut, and she sank into a light doze.

* * *

Blue eyes snapped open as the sound of a lock clicking breached the surrounding silence.

Naruto tensed as someone dragged her window open slowly.

_'Some... someone disarmed my security seals...!'_ She thought frantically.

Discretely, Naruto slid her hand under her pillow, wrapping her slim fingers around the cold metallic handle of the kunai she had hidden there.

Gulping, she noticed the distinct lack of footsteps or audible movements.

_'This person's good...'_ She thought with dread, feeling a presence loom over her forebodingly from behind.

Her bed sank with a new presence, creaking in protest at the added weight. Having enough, Naruto bolted upright, whirling around to sink her kunai into the intruder's unsuspecting throat. To her dismay, her wrist was easily caught in a crushing grip, and she didn't even try to follow up with another attack with her other hand, because she was frozen in terror.

Naruto stared into an unfamiliar pair of blood red eyes.

The pupils were as black as nightmares, dilated and misshapen into an odd four pointed shuriken like formation. Naruto's orange fishcake printed curtains danced lazily to a chilling night breeze, moonlight spilled into her bedroom, illuminating the intruder's haunted face.

Dark tears of blood streamed out of the odious eyes that stared at her, unblinking, and down a ghostly pale face with slightly hunger sunken cheeks. Naruto's lips made to scream, but another rough, dirtied hand clamped over her mouth, choking it off to a pitiful squeak.

"Ah-_mmhphh!"_

His hands tasted like blood. He smelled like blood. He was splattered in blood. Both old, and fresh, and there was another abominable scent lurking on the intruder's person.

The scent of death clung to him, filling Naruto's nostrils with the foul scent of human corpses, making her stomach roll unpleasantly, and her eyes prick with tears. It was so potent. It was frightening.

Naruto... was frightened.

_'Wh-what...? He's s-so strong... I can't m-move...! What's gonna happen to me?'_ She thought, panic stabbing around in her gut.

"Don't... D-don't scream... Naruto." He rasped.

Naruto's already wide eyes flashed in recognition. Azure blues darted over the intruder's tortured face, knowing that bruised nose, and those thick lashes caked with congealed blood, and those cracked, bleeding, lips.

The tears from the stench suddenly became more heavy, weighed down with sorrow at the sorry sight before her, spilling down her paling whiskered cheeks.

Seeing the blonde recognized him, he released both her wrist, and the lower half of her face slowly.

_"Shisui...!"_ Naruto whimpered, dropping the kunai still in her grip.

She desperately took hold of Shisui's blank, dirt, and blood smeared face, bringing his head down to her chest and wrapping her arms around his dangerously skinny form. Immediately, Shisui latched onto the blonde, burrowing himself further into her warmth.

"Oh Kami... Kami what _happened_ to you Shisui?" Naruto croaked, pressing her lips to his dirty, blood crusted hair.

Shisui began trembling uncontrollably, and he released shuddering breaths, muttering madly to himself, scaring Naruto down to her very soul.

_"Midori... Aburame... Hitori... Hyuuga... Akira... Inuzuka..."_

"Shisui...?" Naruto prodded woefully.

He didn't answer. Just kept muttering to himself in a dead tone.

_"Cut them... cut them to little pieces... they made me __**watch.**__.."_

"Shisui..." Naruto sobbed, her tears soaking into his raven curls. "Please stop..."

_"My comrades... cut to little pieces... blood in my hair... on my face... they laughed... they made me watch."_ He whispered brokenly.

_"They made me watch... they made me watch... they made me watch... my friends... cut... to... cut to...bloody little __**pieces**__... So much blood... I was scared... too much blood... __**blood**__..."_

Suddenly, Shisui's head shot up, making Naruto jump. The Uchiha stared with those unfamiliar, unblinking, blood weeping eyes, and took a heartbreakingly gentle hold on Naruto's face.

_"I thought I was gonna die..."_ Shisui admitted quietly.

"Oh Shisui..." Naruto cried, placing her hands over his.

_"And I was... they cut me too... tried to cut me to little pieces... I was gonna die..."_

Naruto bit her lips to keep from sobbing loudly.

"Look what they've done to you... Shisui..." She murmured sadly.

_"But I didn't... want... to be little pieces... bloody little pieces... I didn't want to be... Didn't want to die yet... I missed Naruto."_

"Shisui..." Naruto said helplessly.

"They made me watch." Shisui murmured, his rasping voice as clear as the night sky. "They made me watch... but I remembered my Sunshine, and came home."

Naruto's breath hitched.

_"TA-DAI-MA!"_ Shisui announced cheerfully, collapsing into an insane fit of dark giggles.

* * *

Six months.

Six months Naruto hadn't been able to visit Shisui in the psych ward in the hospital. He was recovering from multiple grievous wounds and lacerations all over his body as well as bad mental scarring.

The Third told her, about the intelligence a Yamanaka had pulled from Shisui's muddled mind that on the successful return of Shisui's squad, they had been intercepted and overwhelmed by a legion of nukenin Jasinist. A cult of masochistic and simultaneously sadistic maniacs that sacrificed numerous innocents to their god through dark rituals.

The team had been exhausted from their mission, having fought nukenin previously, as the client hadn't been completely honest with the mission rank because he was a cheapskate. So, after a long battle and already being exhausted, Shisui's squad had been overwhelmed by the seemingly immortal shinobi and were taken prisoner.

For weeks Shisui's squad had undergone unspeakable torture methods before being killed. When it was Shisui's turn to fall to the same fate of his comrades, he utterly snapped, awakening a new ability to his mangekyo sharingan, which had been awakened as his friends were killed.

Mad with grief and fear, Shisui used its newly unlocked abilities to take down the Jasinist. The Uchiha fittingly cut them to pieces with his tanto, the very weapon they had foolishly set down on a table in the dungeon cell they'd been holding Shisui's squad in. To make certain they didn't just regenerate, Shisui scattered their limbs all over the forest on his way home and buried their still cursing severed heads six feet underground.

Shisui returned to the village severely wounded, the gate guards signaling for the ANBU to take him to the hospital for immediate medical attention. In his scrambled state of mind, he had left, then broken into Naruto's apartment. Manic laughter had alerted the ANBU of the wayward Uchiha who had escaped his hospital room. They took him into custody again, still laughing hysterically and crying tears of blood, with a petrified and worried Naruto following not far behind.

When Naruto wasn't demanding status updates on Shisui's condition, she was training vigorously, and ignoring both Itachi and Sasuke's attempts to check up on her. She had to get stronger. She had to rank up and be strong so Shisui never had to go through something like that again, or if he did, he wouldn't be alone.

Because Naruto would be by his side.

When Shisui got better, which he would, Naruto would be there for him. She wasn't going to be a fool anymore and pretend she didn't care for him. Because that was a lie. Being in a constant state of dread and worry for Shisui for a month long had been a real eye opener. Shisui was one of the most important people in Naruto's life. If not the most important one.

_'He... He is very precious to me.'_

_You are finally beginning to see._ The voice whispered, pleased.

* * *

Two months after Shisui's release from the hospital, he and Naruto spent most of their time staring at the freshly carved names of his teammates on the Memorial K.I.A Stone. Shisui picked her up from her house (it was summer by then so she didn't have academy classes) and Naruto would let him hold her hand and they would go to the Memorial Stone together.

Shisui would sit down and pull Naruto into his lap, and he would talk to his teammates and tell them he was sorry, and that he would be a better comrade to the rest of their comrades. Naruto stayed silent during these times. Just content with the fact that Shisui was alive and okay and _not another name on a piece of stone. _She let him hold her and when he needed it, she held him.

They often ran into a peculiar lanky man with silver hair who stared at the stone blankly for hours on end. He was probably having a conversation of his own with his passed comrades/friends. Naruto silently hoped the silver haired man noticed the sunrise someday soon.

As the weeks passed on, the duo visited the K.I.A stone less and less, and Shisui had even began smiling tentatively every so often. They began training with Itachi and Sasuke again, and Itachi once startled a bark of laughter out of Shisui with some witty dry humor directed at Sasuke's bad attitude.

Naruto watched the life slowly resurrect within Shisui's eyes until he was better again.

Yes, he still sometimes got a gloomy look in his eyes, and randomly hugged Naruto or thanked her, which she knew were nowhere near as random as they might seem. He pondered silently to himself quite a bit, but retained his pure honesty and talked to Naruto if he needed something off of his chest. His eyes were kind again, no longer dead to the world or swirling with barely contained madness. But he was tainted. He wasn't as loud or overzealous anymore, yet he still had smiles reserved just for those precious to him. He was calmer... More mature. The innocence had been brutally ripped from his personality, but he wasn't bitter.

Shisui was a true shinobi.

And the horrible awakening of his mangekyo sharingan had only made him stronger.

Naruto sat in training ground seven reading _'How to seal away chakra and dead bodies'. _Shisui's head was on her right thigh, cloud watching, munching on a rice ball she had put in his bento, Itachi's head on her left thigh, reading a book on shogi while nibbling on dango, and Sasuke sat behind her, his back against hers, quietly doing the summer homework Naruto continued to neglect.

Naruto was content. She wasn't alone. She wasn't surrounded by people and feeling lonely. She had them. They were her boys. Her friends... Her _family._

_'I... I always want to stay this happy.'_


	8. Fangirls, Butterflies, An Elder

**I Don't Own Naruto. Enjoy.**

* * *

With Naruto at the age of twelve, Shisui was fourteen.

Now, Naruto had recently learned that decent looking fourteen year old boys usually get _a lot _of female attention. And if you're an Uchiha, you _especially_ get female attention. Especially if you're name is either Itachi, Shisui, or Sasuke. And even worse, if you are an Uchiha, you are between the ages eleven and fourteen, and your name is either of the previously stated three, then you probably have a _legions_ of fucking _fangirls. _

How this has anything _remotely_ to do with Naruto? A blonde _female_ twelve year old Uzumaki? Well, she just so happened to be with the moron trio everyday after school when they didn't have other plans, and she ate lunch with Sasuke during school hours because he wanted to avoid his rabid fangirls.

These simple facts alone were enough to subject Naruto to constant attempted kidnappings, interrogations, attempted assault, and badmouthing. Nearly all of the females under the age of 18 hated Naruto with a questionable passion because she was always with the moron trio of Uchiha. And yes, they had been demoted to morons because Naruto had to deal with their fangirls every time they caught her alone outside of her home.

Honestly, beating the stuffing out of stupid lovestruck psychos wasn't enough to appease the lit fuze that was the blonde's temper. She thought a bit of petty name calling was in order _thank. you. very. much_.

Naruto was _sick_ and _tired_ of all the _bullshit _that she had to endure because of _delusional _stupid girls that wanted freaking Uchiha babies. But seriously? Itachi and Sasuke were freaking asexual. And Shisui made it his life mission to harass Naruto. They weren't_ interested._ Why couldn't the freaks get that into their pitiful little brains?

Naruto had really had it up to her scalp with the spittle that was sprinkling her face from the four girls that had been interrogating her for the past ten minutes about her relationship with Shisui. Seriously, even if she was interested in the moron, which she _wasn't,_ it _wouldn't_ be any of their business now would it?

"-and another thing, who do you think you are, holding Shisui-kun's hand like that all the time, huh? You think you're special 'cause he took pity on trash like you and let you get near him-"

"Enough." Naruto growled.

The red head that had been spraying the blonde's face with her saliva as she screamed at her clamped her mouth shut, recoiling at the livid tone of the blonde.

"Hey, who do you think you're talking to, yankee bitch?" A brunette behind her demanded.

Honestly, they were all so appallingly unoriginal. Cornering the blonde in an abandoned and conveniently shadowed alleyway on a day after school when the moron trio had clan katon jutsu training scheduled? Pathetic.

"Who _me?_ Well, I just thought I was talking to four desperate little meatbags that I'm just _itching _to cut open with my sword." Naruto mused condescendingly.

The four faceless fangirls paled.

Naruto drew her jet black katana, its hilt decorated with braided red ribbon, pulling the weapon threateningly from the back of her track jacket collar. The ebony blade glittered in the setting sun, the underside of it a gleaming silver that was positively _menacing_ as Naruto pointed the razor tip of her sword at the redhead's jugular.

"Hey," Naruto drawled. "How old are you anyway? About twelve, huh? Maa, did you know, a girl around that age has about 3.5 liters of blood in her body? I wonder how many minutes it'll take for that skin of yours to drain of blood after I carve you up like the fucking pig you are."

Three of them screamed, stuttering out awful excuses for apologies and running off with their little tails between their legs. Naruto smirked darkly, unconsciously drawing on a dormant power within her that made her eyes glow vermillion in the shadowed alley. The red head's brow was lined with sweat, and she gulped loudly, terrified tears pricking the corners of her boring brown eyes.

"Y-you really_ are_ a monster." She whimpered pitifully. "N-no… You're a _demon_."

"Aw, aren't ya gonna even try an' run?" Naruto pouted mockingly. "Go on, I bet you I can still gut you even if your back's turned."

Sniveling pathetically, the redhead's quaking knees finally gave out on her, and she fell to the pissy ground.

Naruto scoffed at her, inwardly feeling a smudge of guilt. She hadn't meant to scare them _that_ bad. She just wanted them to stop harassing her so much.

Rolling her eyes and fluidly sheathing her blade, the blonde smoothly turned around to leave.

"My relationship with Shisui is really_ none _of your business. At _all._ But if you really like him so much, did you ever try just _telling_ him instead of bothering me?"

With that, the blonde buried her hands in her baggy harem pants and slouched off, leaving a wide eyed redhead behind to think.

* * *

Naruto rounded the corner of the alley and into another one, eyes flying wide when someone snatched her by the hips and pulled her out the line of sight of prying eyes. Her face collided with a strong chest, immediately going beet red when the hands didn't pull away. Instead, they inched around to the small of her back and slid dexterously into the back pockets of her pants.

"Where the hell do you think you're touching, asshole?" She gritted out.

"Maa maa, Naru-chan, that really hurts." A playful voice whined.

Honestly… when had the bastard gotten so tall? He had always been taller than her, but it seemed a bit excessive nowadays. The top of her head reached his collarbones. And it _never _ceased pissing her off.

"_Shisui…" _Naruto growled warningly. "I _told_ you to _stop_ being so touchy feely with me."

"Then stop me." He chuckled breathily in her ear, causing it to catch flame.

Naruto couldn't tell you exactly when it started. Shisui had always showed his affection in very physical fashions. No. Scratch that. Actually, it was probably around the time when he hit puberty...

He hit a growth spurt that put him at 5ft 9 (and still counting slowly), his voice deepened somewhat, his jaw hardened, and his lean muscles came in. And after that, he lost. his. entire. _fucking. mind._

The worse part was, he only ever touched Naruto the way he did. Not sexually really, but certainly not in a platonic way either.

_Is that really the worse part, or are you just telling yourself that? _The voice questioned blandly.

'_Stuff it.'_

_I just call it like you see it._

'_Whatever.'_

_Witty. _The voice remarked sarcastically.

Naruto didn't even bother responding.

"Na-ru-to-chaaaan~" Shisui sang softly.

"What?" The blonde snapped, telling herself that she _wasn't_ hiding her face in Shisui's shirt, and her face sure as _hell_ wasn't _blushing!_

"I missed you, so I came to see you." Shisui murmured hotly against her ear.

Naruto released a pitiful little squeak that she'd rather hang herself then admit to making. Shisui chuckled breathily in her ear, causing her stomach to collapse into a frenzy of fluttering butterflies.

"So basically, you didn't want to do clan training so you skipped out and came to find me when you realized you had nothing better to do?" Naruto asked, her fist clenched around the abdominal material of Shisui's black shirt.

"Well, sort of, but I really _did_ want to see you, like, _after_ I realized I was bored."

Don't let it be said Shisui's newfound maturity extended to far.

"Gee_ thanks._" Naruto sneered sardonically. "You really know how to make a girl feel special, don't you?"

"Oh, but you_ are_ special Naru-chan." Shisui whispered into her red ear. "Because you're _my_ ray of sunshine."

The butterflies in Naruto's stomach then multiplied at how possessive the Uchiha had sounded, and the blonde squeaked again, hiding even further into the moron's shirt as he held her. She was absolutely mortified at her own behavior. What the _actual __**fuck **_was _wrong_ with her? No... What the _actual fuck _was Shisui _doing_ to her?

"Shut up, Shisui." Naruto mumbled weakly.

Shisui laughed, pulling his lips away from the blonde's ear to rest his chin gently atop her head.

Nose buried in his chest, Naruto guiltily enjoyed his deep woodsy scent.

"You were really mean to those girls, Naru-chan." The Uchiha said, breaching the extremely awkward silence that was probably only awkward for Naruto.

"Che, so you saw that, huh?"

"Even if I didn't, I'd have sensed your huge killing intent and the fear of those girls halfway across the village."

"I was giving off killing intent?" Naruto asked curiously, ducking from under Shisui's chin to stare up at him, baffled.

Shisui's lips twisted into a small, amused smile.

"Somehow, you not being aware of it makes it worse."

"Maa, you think so?"

"Mmhmm." He hummed. "And you wanna know what else I think?"

"What?" She asked not realizing how gullible she was being at that moment.

Shisui's smile shifted to a more mischievous theme.

"I think you were jealous."

"Nani?" Naruto asked flatly.

"Mmhmm," Shisui nodded to himself, looking at the blonde condescendingly as if she was ignorant to something _everyone _knew. "Naruto-chan is jealous because her Shisui is a lady's man."

"Dude, what?" Naruto scoffed, thumping the playful Uchiha on the chest irritably. "Who the fuck would be jealous for your stupid ass? I think you need to see a shrink, 'cause you're starting to sound as delusional as those fangirls."

"Nu-uh, that was definitely jealousy you were displaying when you drew your sword."

"What the fuck?! No it _wasn't, _I honestly just wanted those airheads to _leave me the fuck alone."_

_"_Yeah, and keep their paws away from your man-meat." Shisui finished knowledgeably.

"Are you kidding?" Naruto asked incredulously. "I don't care if they drool over you until they're dehydrated! It's not like you'll ever pay them any attention anyways."

Shisui's ebony eyes widened, though, he looked pleasantly surprised. Then, he was smiling again. But... it was almost... _smarmy._

"And what makes you say something like _that, _Naru-chan?" He questioned, eyes twinkling deviously.

Naruto's face fell slack when the weight of her own words finally reached her.

_'Kami-sama I just made it sound like he was my boyfriend and __**that's **__why I wasn't worried about his fangirls! Kuso...! I'm an idiot!'_

"D-don't sound so cocky... baka. I didn't mean anything weird by it." The blonde protested weakly.

"Mmhmm, sure you didn't Sunshine."

"I-I didn't! Seriously Shisui, I _didn't." _Naruto huffed, whiskered cheeks flushing a pretty pink.

Shisui just smiled down pleasantly at her as the blonde continued to stutter out denials.

Naruto didn't realize Shisui had stopped teasing, and was smiling because she still hadn't pulled away.

* * *

_"Didn't you hear?"_

_"No, what?"_

_"The Demon-slut bagged an Uchiha."_

_"What? No way!"_

_"Way, they were holding hands after school yesterday, he even picked her up!"_

_"Really? Kami... she must've tricked the poor guy into it."_

_"Yeah, it's kinda sad. I feel bad for him."_

_"Pssh. Who wouldn't? Everyone knows the Demon-slut is evil."_

Naruto turned around to glare murder at the two female buffoons sitting behind her.

"Honestly Ino, Sakura, you could at least _try _to whisper properly." Naruto deadpanned.

The fangirls had the decency to flush lightly, sinking down into their seats in embarrassment as the class shook their heads at their joint stupidity.

Naruto rolled her eyes and turned to the blue and white garbed Uchiha with duck ass styled hair.

"Ne, 'Suke-chan, aren't they supposed to be like, mortal enemies or something?"

"Hn." Sasuke grunted.

"Yeah, you're right." Naruto scoffed. "Fangirls _are _stupid."

"Oi, don't talk to Sasuke-kun so familiarly, _**SHANNARO**_!" Sakura screeched.

"Oi billboard-brow, don't steal my spotlight, _I _was supposed to defend Sasuke-kun's honor!" Ino cut in, but glared at the back of the blonde's head. "But yeah, you already tricked one Uchiha Demon-slut, keep your talons _away _from Sasuke-kun!"

_'Talons...?' _Naruto echoed skeptically.

_Don't even question it. You might catch dumbass._

Naruto snorted under her breath.

_'That's probably the best advice you've ever given me.'_

_Hah. You're a comedian. _

_'I try.'_

"Butt out Ino-pig, no one asked you!" Sakura yelled.

"No _you _butt out Forehead-girl!" Ino shot back.

"Clever." Naruto muttered sarcastically.

Sasuke just snorted quietly in agreement.

The pinkette and the ash blonde's voices then reached pitches so high they were nearly beyond human comprehension.

Akamaru whined in agony from his place in Kiba's jacket, burrowing further in his master's coat.

Kiba silently wished he had somewhere to hide too.

**"SHUT UP YOU DAMN BRATS!" **Iruka-sensei boomed, walking into the classroom with _bighead no jutsu _activated.

Naruto tried to hold in her laughter at how ridiculous Iruka-sensei looked with a giant bobbling head and normal sized body as he moved.

Though, she did give him points for getting everyone to shut up.

* * *

Naruto strolled through the Forest of Death, hands in the pockets of her burnt orange track jacket, and azure eyes gazing skyward. Itachi was helping Sasuke with his katon jutsu in training ground seven, so it was just going to be her and Shisui. Suddenly, her cheeks flooded with color.

_'W-why do I suddenly feel so nervous...?' _The blonde thought irritably.

_I think you know why._

_'And pray tell, what do you mean by __**that **__o wise one?'_

_I'm not so wise so much as honest. _

_'What does that mean? You my conscience or something?'_

The voice didn't answer.

"Tch. Whatever." Naruto grumbled.

The twelve year old entered a clearing that she and the moron trio often trained in.

Quickly spotting the chronically early Shisui, she opened her mouth to call out to him, only to notice he wasn't alone.

Naruto's lips pursed, taking in the suspicious looking old man with one slit eye, an X like scar on his chin, and swathed in bandages. He wore traditional robes, cementing his place as someone important in the village, and the air about him told the blonde he had shinobi training. He was probably an elder. The question was, what was an elder doing talking to Shisui, a Chunin, in a deserted training ground? A place where no one save for a blonde, three Uchiha, and a dango lover visited?

_'Curious.' _Naruto thought, cocking her head to the side as Shisui nodded, and bowed to the old cripple, who disappeared in a classic leaf shunshin.

Naruto approached the tall Uchiha, stopping in front of him and staring up at his unreadable face.

"What was that all about? And who's the ancient cripple?" The blonde asked.

She blinked curiously as Shisui went sheet white and his ebony eyes bugged out.

"Shhhh! _Naruto! He's an __**elder**_!" Shisui hissed. "You can't talk about them like that!"

"Then tell me who he was so I won't." Naruto crossed her arms.

Shisui sighed explosively, running a hand through his already mused bedhead. The sight made her stomach flutter pleasantly.

Shisui looked at her with amused half lidded eyes, slipping his hands under her crossed arms to take hold of her fingers, and coax them out of their stubborn position so he could pull the blonde gently against him.

Naruto didn't pull away when the clingy Uchiha wrapped his arms around her. And no, she _didn't _snuggle further into his embrace, _or_ return it. Seriously. She _didn't._

"His name is Danzo Shimura, Naruto-chan." Shisui said into her hair. "Sometimes, I do missions for him. He is the leader of the shinobi force ROOT. It's kinda like ANBU, but they work directly under Danzo-sama instead of Hokage-sama."

"Hm? Why am I just now hearing about this?" Naruto wondered, looking up at him suspiciously.

"It never came up." Shisui said elusively.

Naruto frowned, displeased.

"I don't like him, Shisui." Naruto said honestly. "He smells foul... like... _lies._"

Naruto had never put much thought into it... but... she could remember even as a small child being sensitive to negative emotions, or just negativity in general. She knew what hatred felt like behind the glares of the villagers, and sorrow, and grievance. All of those emotions swirled within the villagers that mistreated her when they looked at her.

She knew Hokage-Jiji hadn't told her the full truth when he explained some people where just bad or mean. He was giving off _deceit _and_ guilt. _But that was it. The old man had no ill intentions towards Naruto from what she could tell, he just wasn't telling her _something. _But Danzo? He had lied and twisted the truth so much in his life the feeling of dishonesty _clung _to him. It flowed off of him as naturally chakra did through tenketsu, or blood did through veins. Naruto described it as a scent, but she was no Inuzuka. It was a _feeling. _A sense so powerful she had to resist the urge to shiver.

_'__I don't trust that man...' _Naruto thought grimly.

"Maa maa Naruto-chan, don't make such a scary face." Shisui said playfully, rubbing away the frown between her dark blonde brows with the gentle pad of his thumb.

When Naruto only pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, Shisui sighed again, only, with a lot more resignation.

"Honestly Naruto?" Shisui asked wearily. "What true shinobi _hasn't_ or _wouldn't_ lie to protect their village?"

"That's not what I meant Shisui and you _kno-_"

"Maa," The Uchiha interrupted smoothly. "Just try and keep your cute little nose near the daylight where it belongs, ne?" Shisui smiled kindly, tapping the tip of Naruto's nose playfully.

Naruto's thoughtful frown morphed into a full blown scowl, and she wrenched herself away from the Uchiha, using chakra to propel herself across the clearing.

"So basically, fuck off huh?" Naruto spat at him. "_Fine! _I think I _will! _Later, asshole."

_'This is what I get for actually trying to help some!' _ She raged. _'Does be think I'm weak? Why won't he tell me the truth? I... I just want to help!'_

Naruto whirled around, launching herself into the trees, making to speed off towards home.

She didn't get two steps before her wrist was caught.

The blonde didn't even get to _think _about growling at him to let go, because he was already pulling her back flush against his front and sliding down the trunk of the tree to sit down. Shisui leaned against the tree, and Naruto leaned against him, sitting between his spread legs.

"Y'know, when a girl dramatically storms off, you're supposed to let her."

She felt Shisui's chest vibrate with silent laughter behind her.

That alone was enough to douse her blazing frustration.

"Really?" He asked quietly. "I could've sworn it meant to chase her with fervor and beg for forgiveness."

"Are you going to beg me, Shisui?" Naruto asked.

"Nope, I'm going to do even better." He murmured.

He took hold of the blonde's waist and turned her around, arranging her so that her side was to his chest and her head was resting on his shoulder.

"I'm going to tell you how much I love it when your nose and your cheeks turn pink when I hold you." Shisui began, relishing in how his blonde stiffened in alarm. "I'm going to tell how I sometimes fantasize about kissing your nose and watching your face turn pink. And I'm going to tell you how much I love seeing you everyday."

Naruto didn't say anything, just focused on willing away her steaming flush and erratic heartbeat. She wanted to ask Shisui what any of that had to do with Danzo. She wanted to ask if he was trying to distract her from the elder and Shisui's relationship by sweet talking her.

But she didn't.

"There are many things I love about you, Naruto." Shisui told her softly. "So many things I can't even tell you all of them off the top of my head. But I think what I might love the most is the warmth in your smile. And I never want to see the life drained from your face. Thats why all I ask... no. _Beg _from you, is to _stay away from Danzo."_

Naruto's eyes widened, and for once, she remained silent.

* * *

"Itachi." Naruto called.

The aloof Uchiha looked up from the book he was reading, and over to the blonde crouched in his bedroom windowsill. It was already half past midnight. What could the blonde want at such an ungodly hour?

"Hai?" He asked seriously, immediately taking note of the blonde's uncharacteristically grim expression.

"What can you tell me about Danzo Shimura?"


	9. The Detective, The Student, The Nurse

_**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy. **_

* * *

Itachi set the book he'd been reading face down on his nightstand, patting the free space on his midnight blue comforter invitingly.

"Now what would make you come here to ask me such a thing, Naruto?" He asked seriously.

Naruto climbed the rest of the way into the darkly themed room, quietly padding over to the bed and seating herself beside the quiet Uchiha.

"Because I want to know what I _know _you know." Naruto answered, just as serious.

"Hn. And do you truly believe it wise to go behind Shisui's back to obtain such knowledge?"

"Che. Warned you did he?"

"No," Itachi dismissed easily. "Shisui knew he was having a meeting with Danzo today, and informed me ahead of time. It is why I offered to help Sasuke brush up on his katon jutsu. I do not... entirely _agree _with Danzo's work methods."

"Hoh?" Naruto leaned in, intrigued.

Itachi openly-even if subtly- admitting to disliking someone was big. He was a very passive and kind person by nature. He prefered to observe things before acting or making decisions. The only reason he had come off as arrogant and dismissive when they first met was because he was testing the waters. He had been probing, trying to see what type of person Naruto was. Yes, he could've just asked Naruto questions to see what type of person she was, but Itachi wasn't exactly a social butterfly. It simply had not crossed his mind.

So, to have him saying he didn't like someone, Itachi, who was entirely _not_ judgmental and peace loving, Danzo had to be the most foul scum of the earth.

"Shisui told me after he returned to the compound about how you walked in on the end of his meeting with Danzo. All he said was that he warned you to stay away from him. Which, I _know_ was most likely the edited version of the situation."

Naruto blushed slightly at the Uchiha's sly jab to Shisui's and her flirting.

And yes, Naruto wasn't so naive and in denial that she didn't recognize flirting. She just didn't want to think about how deep it could go.

"S-shut up." Naruto huffed. "Just tell me about the geezer will you?"

Itachi's lips twitched slightly, before his face became impassive again.

"Shisui didn't have to tell me everything for me to know that you would come here, Naruto. Despite what you may think, we all know you just as much as you know us."

"So, what?" Naruto asked, raising a dark brow. "You're not gonna tell me about Danzo?"

"I don't recall ever insinuating such a thing." Itachi said innocently.

Naruto smirked.

"Itachi, _this _is why you're my favorite."

The quiet Uchiha returned the smirk briefly, though quickly sobered.

"You are informed of Danzo's elder status and involvement in ROOT?"

"Hai." Naruto nodded.

"Very well, and that is all?" Itachi prodded.

"Well, Shisui briefly mentioned going on missions for the guy, and heavily insinuated I'd end up dead if I got involved with him." Naruto supplied.

"I see." Itachi mumbled, perking up as much as someone so indifferent could. "Tell me Naruto, what do you know of the Bingo Book?"

"Nani? You mean that book full of bounties and information on powerful ninja?" Naruto questioned, baffled. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm sure you remember that escort mission Shisui's squad went on a year ago." Itachi stated, suddenly grim.

Naruto's eyes widened, before she too, became stone faced.

"Of _course _I remember that. And you better have a _damn_ good reason for bringing it up, Itachi." Naruto said dangerously.

"Well, at the time, you were not allowing Sasuke and I to see you. I thought I may have been imagining things, though, that was highly unlikely."

"Go on," Naruto prompted.

Itachi sighed.

"Did you ever think to ask the Third for the mission details?"

"Yes..." Naruto trailed off, sounding doubtful. "He said it was a simple escort mission for a Leaf merchant to Sand. Shisui's squad was ambushed on the way there because the merchant didn't tell anyone rouge nin around the borders would be after him for once refusing them service."

"That is correct, though, I'm sure you are unaware that "merchant" was a ROOT spy sent to keep tabs on Sand by Danzo. Nor the fact that there were rumors among the shinobi ranks that a cult of Jasinist were traveling from elemental nation to nation looking for new recruits and sacrifices. Also, that they were making their way towards Sand."

"Kuso...! You're not saying what I _think _you're saying, are you?" Naruto asked weakly.

Itachi wordlessly picked up the book he had been reading when Naruto first arrived, pushing it gently into her hands.

Swallowing thickly, Naruto turned the book around, her skin losing all color at the blood splattered young man with haunted red mangekyo eyes staring back at her from the picture. The caption read: Nickname: _Shunshin no Shisui. Status: High A-Rank. Village: Hidden in the Leaves. Advice: Do. Not. Engage._

"Oh shit... shit Itachi. _Shit! _That old cripple _set them up!"_

"Hai." Itachi nodded dourly. "Danzo deliberately sent Shisui's squad on that mission."

"B-b-b-but... _why_?" Naruto stuttered, appalled.

"I believe it was to awaken Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan."

"What?" Naruto hissed, afraid that if she began yelling in her outrage, she'd scream her voice box out. "Even if that _was _his original intention, there is _no possible __**fucking **__way _he could've known if it would succeed or not! How could he have known Shisui would face the Jasinist, lose his comrades, awaken his Mangekyo, and have enough strength to return home? Didn't that old cripple think that _maybe _he could've been sending them to a pointless death? _Which he __**did**_?!"

"I simply believe Danzo was willing to make that sacrifice. He left their lives up to chance and the possibility of them running into the Jasinist. All to awaken Shisui's Mangekyo and have another powerful Sharingan under the village's control."

"Kami-sama thats _insane! _Itachi, that's fucking _insane." _The blonde stared at her Uchiha friend helplessly.

Itachi shrugged, just as helpless.

"There is no proof. If I did go to the Third with this, even if he did believe me, the council and elders would argue it is merely speculation and perhaps, _could _be true. But without evidence, there is nothing they could do. And I am not entirely sure the elders or the council would care much, as Danzo is as silver tongued as he is meticulous. They will hear his side over yours or mine, Naruto."

"So _what?" _Naruto snapped. "Just _let_ the slimy bastard get _away_ with it? Don't you remember what Shisui _went_ through because of that disastrous mission?"

Naruto flinched violently when Itachi flashed his three tomoe sharingan at her, snatching her chin in a rare moment of aggressiveness and yanking her face closer to his to glare at her harshly.

"This is _precisely_ why Shisui warned you to stay away from Danzo, Naruto." Itachi stated bleakly. "That means directly, and _indirectly _by fishing for information about him. You will begin asking questions, which will lead to more questions, and in turn, you will only find your grave."

"Forget about what happened." Itachi ordered. "Shisui is fine. He is scarred, but alive. You will do well to remember that."

Finally coming back to herself from her shock, Naruto yanked herself from the Uchiha's iron grip, rubbing gingerly at her aching jaw.

"Fine." She spat. "But that doesn't mean I'll _like it."_

With that, her form burst into a typhoon of chaotic winds and whips of water, and then, she was gone.

"I don't think she will have anymore questions. I told her the truth, and she will have to be content with that." Itachi said, seemingly to no one.

After a moment of dead silence, the far left corner in Itachi's bedroom seemed darker than what should've been possible in a lit room.

Shisui melded out of the shadows of Itachi's bedroom, smiling pleasantly.

"This is why you're _my _favorite, Itachi."

The two shared a brief bout of chuckling, before sobering.

"You were right, Itachi. We _do _know her as much as she knows us." Shisui said, shaking his head slightly.

"Hn. Which is why you knew she would come to me and hid in my room thinking I had not an inkling to your presence?"

Shisui rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, knowing long ago he'd been caught.

"Honestly, I'm surprised she didn't notice me too." He admitted. "I mean, you'd think she'd predict I'd figured out she would come to you and take the conversation somewhere else."

"Hn," Itachi's face took on a more thoughtful expression. "I don't believe she was in the right frame of mind. Danzo's appearance really shook something within her. That is why she ignored your warning."

"I think you're right." Shisui agreed, unsmiling.

"If that is all." The quiet Uchiha said, turning off the lamp on his nightstand. "Good night, Shisui."

"Good night, Itachi."

"Oh, and Itachi?"

"Hn?"

"Arigato."

When Itachi didn't say anything, the outline of Shisui's shadowed form blurred completely out of existence.

"You're welcome." Itachi smiled.

* * *

Two weeks after The Elder Incident (as the blonde had taken to calling it), Naruto couldn't figure out _what _deity she had pissed off in order to deserve... _this._

Shisui had spontaneously decided a day after The Elder Incident that he was going to teach Naruto tanto based _kenjutsu_(1). And it was absolutely _horrible. _

_Come now, you don't honestly feel that way, do you? _The voice asked suddenly.

_'I do when I feel like my face is going to spontaneously freaking combust every other minute! ' _Naruto inwardly growled.

_You love it._

_'No. I really just __**don't**__.' _Naruto thought miserably.

Naruto and Shisui were in training ground seven, because training ground 44 wasn't exactly a practical place to learn a complicated and elegant art unless you really fancied the idea of being randomly attacked by rabid, giant, mutated wildlife.

Naruto was holding Shisui's tanto in a reverse grip, her legs spread at a 45 degree angle, and her form picture perfect.

Now, this in itself wasn't so bad, infact, it was quite a normal sight to find an aspiring shinobi to be practicing either weapon or taijutsu katas.

What _wasn't _normal was for Shisui _**fucking **_Uchiha to be leaning over said aspiring shinobi practicing their katas with his hand wrapped around hers over his blade, and his other one placed on her hip.

This was just plain distracting and _not at all helpful in the __**slightest**_.

Two weeks was long enough. Naruto was going to freaking commit _seppuku _if this went on. Her heart just couldn't take it. It was gonna burst. Either that, or her face would melt from the constant state of blushing.

"Shisui..." Naruto drawled warningly.

"Hmmm?" The Uchiha hummed in her ear. "What ever can I do for you my dear?"

"You sound like fucking pedo bear." Naruto grumbled.

Shisui chuckled, smirking teasingly against the shell of the blonde's red ear.

"I'm sure that's not what you were originally going to say," He inquired.

"And you'd be right." Naruto gritted out, right brow twitching in irritation. "What I was gonna ask was... _WHY THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO FREAKING CLOSE?!"_

"Well, you see Naruto-chan, kenjutsu is a very precise and difficult art, so I just wanted to make sure you got it down to the very last _minute detail. "_

Naruto shivered involuntarily at the end of Shisui's sentence, as he had whispered it unnecessarily close into her ear.

"I-I call bullshit." Naruto nearly squeaked. "You're just trying to feel me up, aren't you, Ero-Uchiha?"

"Guilty as charged!" Shisui chirped shamelessly.

"_**WHAT**_?!" Naruto screeched, launching herself out of his embrace and across the training ground.

She whirled around, only to find Shisui bent halfway over and shaking uncontrollably with silent laughter. Hell, he even had _tears _streaming out of his eyes.

"K-_Kami _Naruto you're so gullible sometimes...!" Shisui gasped between breaths. "I-I was only _teasing!"_

"Oh. Just a harmless joke huh?" Naruto asked, walking back over to the still laughing Uchiha.

"Y-yeah..." He snickered, oblivious to the dangerous black aura seeping off of the blonde.

"Oh really? Well, maybe you'll think this is funny too..." Naruto said, voice dripping with false sweetness.

Shisui paled, hearing that unnatural tone, and made the mistake of looking up to face his death.

The sucker punch that hit him sent him flying all the way to the Hokage's Tower.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at his desk, for once, actually doing his paperwork instead of trying to find ways to get out of it.

He sighed, content that he had finally finished the day's work load, reaching into his robes to have an afternoon randevu with his secret lover. His tobacco pipe, Madame Cherry.

The wizened Kage lit up Madame Cherry with a practiced ease, taking a lethargic puff before blowing impressive smoke rings out into the peaceful air.

All was good and well.

That was, until something _literally _shattered, it being his office window, and a black blur rocketed into the room, slamming onto the now bug eyed Village leader's desk and knocking over the still _open_ pot if ink. _Spilling it all over the Hokage's __**finished **__paperwork._

Hiruzen released a _very manly _screech of outraged protest, shooting to his feet and staring down at the unconscious, and bloody nosed Shisui Uchiha lying sprawled on his desk.

The ANBU guarding outside burst in, katana ready to take down who ever _dared _to enter the Hokage's office without authorization.

"Hokage-sama, what's wrong? I heard a girly scream and-" The ANBU operative cut his frantic babbling off, watching in fascination as the Hokage fainted and the young man on his desk groaned, slowly coming to.

The ANBU noticed the ruined paperwork on the desk, rolling his hidden eyes before leaving, closing the door behind him.

_'Just another weird freaking paperwork incident.' _He thought flatly.

* * *

Four hours later, Naruto and Shisui were back in her shitty apartment. Shisui on the sofa, and Naruto between his legs in her garish orange chair and an open first aid kit in her lap.

Naruto breached the silence by releasing a poorly suppressed giggle.

"It's not funny." Shisui pouted.

"It kinda _is..." _Naruto sniggered, dabbing a sanitized cotton swab against a blood weeping scratch near Shisui's brow.

"Maybe to _you, _but not to me!" Shisui huffed, crossing his arms in indignation. "Hokage-sama demoted me to Tora detail for a _month!"_

Naruto didn't bother trying to hide it anymore, and just collapsed into full blown laughter at the sulky Uchiha's misfortune.

Eventually noticing Shisui was still _not _amused, the blonde slapped a hand over her mouth, trying and _failing _to smother away her giggles. She waved her free hand around apologetically.

"Y-you're r-right... i-it's not funny... It's totally _not._ Not f-f-funn- ha... funny... Hahahaha!"

Shisui's mouth twitched slightly as he watched the blonde laugh. He couldn't help it, and chuckled a bit. When Naruto was smiling like that... Really, how could he be angry?

"Well, I guess it's not _so _bad." He admitted finally.

"See?" Naruto grinned, smacking his shoulder good naturedly as she began calming down. "Not so bad now is it?"

She then opened a fresh band-aid and gently smoothed it over Shisui's freshly cleaned, Tora received battle scar.

"No definitely not so bad," Shisui said innocently, before his expression turned devious. "Especially if I get patched up by Nurse Naru-chan."

Naruto flushed tomato red, slamming her first aid kit closed before shooting to her feet.

"S-shut up, stupid Ero-Uchiha." She huffed, making to storm off.

"Wait," Shisui called.

Naruto stopped in her tracks, shoulders hunched.

"What?" She gruffed.

"You missed a spot." Was all he said.

_"Huh?" _Naruto said intelligently, turning around, blinking stupidly as the Uchiha tapped absently at the kind of, but not really bleeding tiny nick at the right corner of his smirking mouth.

"Aren't you supposed to kiss it and make it better?" He asked innocently.

Now, Naruto's first reaction was to blush even harder, stutter like an idiot, and storm off to mourn the loss of her pride. The second, was to tell the stupid bastard to get fucked and _still _storm off. And the third... for some reason the blonde couldn't fathom, she went through with the third.

Naruto set her first aid kit down on the vintage coffee table in front of the couch, and shuffled back over to Shisui. She kicked her orange chair out of the way and plopped herself down into the Uchiha's lap.

_'No backing down now...' _The blonde gulped, staring at Shisui's full pink lips. _'Naruto Uzumaki's no coward, __**DATTEBAYO**__!'_

She took hold of Shisui's chin, ignoring his bug eyed expression because she didn't know _what the __**fuck **__she was doing either._

Naruto gently lifted Shisui's chin, smirking at him with a confidence she didn't feel, and leaned in.

Obviously, Naruto had never kissed anyone in such a fashion a day in her life. The only person she had ever kissed was Hokage-Jiji, which had been on the cheek, and she hadn't done that since she was like, _five._

Though, Naruto could tell you, as her lips pressed over the Uchiha's, it was the best damn kiss she ever had, or was going to have.

Her first thought was _soft, _then _perfect, _then...

_'__**WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING**__?!'_

Naruto's eyes flew open, not even realizing she had closed them, recoiling, and would've nearly fallen out of Shisui's lap if he hadn't taken hold of her waist.

She flailed around, trying to get _away _from... from the boy who made her do things that never _ever_ made any _sense...!_

Shisui let go of her waist and cupped her face, yanking her down to press their lips together for the second time.

Naruto instantly melted.

Seeing she had calmed down, Shisui pulled back, his cheeks tinged with pink.

"That _definitely_ made me feel better." He said softly, grinning uncontrollably.

Naruto blushed heavily.

"That's good." Naruto squeaked.

Shisui's twinkling eyes fell half mast.

"It still kinda hurts though..."

"That's too bad," Naruto mused quietly, azure eyes already beginning to fall shut as she leaned in again. "Maybe I should make it better some more..."

"Maybe you should..." Shisui murmured, trailing off.

No more words were exchanged.

Shisui had met her halfway.

* * *

_**1\. I recently remembered. The Japanese term for swordsmanship is kenjutsu. Silly me ;P**_


	10. Angel, Get Angry

**I really struggled with this chapter. And I'm not satisfied with the outcome at all. Still, I hope **_**someone**_** gets joy out of it. **

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy.**

* * *

Naruto sighed against Shisui's lips, the Uchiha taking the opportunity to slip his tongue into the blonde's hot cavern, running his dexterous appendage over the roof of her mouth. Naruto wrapped her arms around Shisui's neck, her fingers slithering into the soft dark hairs at the back of his nape. The blonde hummed pleasantly against Shisui's mouth, her tongue tentatively brushing his in return.

She had no idea what she was doing. And she seriously doubted Shisui did either. But at that moment? With Shisui's warm lips slanting gently over hers? She. just. _didn't. __**care**_.

That is, until she heard the sound of her chronically unlocked door opening.

Naruto's baby blues flew open in alarm, pulling away from Shisui with a wet _smack, _the resulting string of saliva snapping and sticking against her chin.

Shisui blinked away the daze he had fell into, murky ebony eyes becoming sharp at the sound of a woman screaming and then-

_Whump._

He set the stunned stiff blonde in his lap aside on the couch, looking over to the place of the noise, raising a dark questioning brow at what he saw.

Sasuke was lying in a dead faint on his face in the open doorway, Itachi peering down at him and nudging him curiously with the toe of his sandal.

"Foolish little brother." Itachi sighed, shaking his head slightly.

Shisui grinned at the other Uchihas' reaction to catching them in the act.

_Whump._

Shisui blinked, turning to Naruto, only to find her lying on her side on the couch in a dead faint.

_'Ahhh... Today's a good day.' _He thought cheerfully.

* * *

The weekend for Ninja Academy kids was coming to an end. Students were checking and double checking their homework, others were doing last minute taijutsu or village history practice, and some were just bumming out, catching a few last rays while they still could.

And Naruto? Well, she had doubled the security of her seals on her bedroom, and she had been hauled up in there for two days after she... _she...!_

Naruto squealed like a total girl, slapping her hands over her inflamed cheeks and began pacing like mad.

_'What was I thinking?!' _She inwardly screamed.

_That's the thing. You weren't over thinking or ignoring things as usual, and something awesome happened as a result. _

_'Y-you think this is __**awesome**__?! I-I... I k-ki-kiss-'_

_Kissed Shisui. _The voice supplied helpfully.

"No!" Naruto yelled, throwing herself onto her bed to bury her face dramatically into her pillow. "Don't say it... it'll make it real..."

_It __**is **__real._

Naruto shook her head frantically in protest.

"No it's not. It was all just a weird dream my twisted mind made up."

_Wouldn't that mean subconsciously that you want to kiss Shisui? So even if it didn't happen, which it __**did**__, then you'd still want to kiss him and it'd only be a matter of time before you __**do**__, though, you already __**did, AND YOU'RE BEING RIDICULOUS ABOUT IT BECAUSE YOU LOVED IT**__!_

"Nope. Nu-uh. Not true. No. _Zilch. Nada. _So _zip it." _Naruto denied, her chin setting stubbornly.

_Gah! Stop being impossible. You're scared, understandable, 'cause you're only twelve, but being young doesn't change the fact that you l-_

_'__**Don't**__. Finish. That. Sentence.' _Naruto warned dangerously.

_Fine. You're not going to listen? Fair enough. You're so on your own. And once you finally get around to admitting to the truth, something by then may have already rendered it too late._

"Whatever." Naruto grumbled, stuffing her face in her pillow.

_'Whaddyou know anyways? You're just a stupid voice in my head.'_

* * *

Now, Shisui liked to think of himself as a very patient, understanding, and tolerant guy. A real nice guy. He had always been very tolerant of Naruto's less than considerate habits. Like her chronic foul mouth, or her fiery temper, and even her constant denial of caring about him. He knew he never actually came out and said _"Naruto, I have a massive crush on you, actually, I possibly love you more than life itself. I want to be your boyfriend.", _but really, he'd been dropping painfully obvious hints for _years. _So forgive him for being a _bit _peeved that after they'd finally _finally _kissed, Naruto locked herself up in her room with seals that put the Hokage's personal library to shame.

He knew that under that mean and coarse face Naruto wore outside in the world was just that. A face. Under all that, she was a shy girl who had insecurities, doubts, and confusion. But, she was also smart. So part of Naruto knew and accepted Shisui, and her obvious feelings for him, while the face she probably convinced herself was real didn't know what to do.

Naruto always locked up and ignored things having to do with Shisui's affection when she didn't know how to handle them. But this time, _she _was the one to initiate the contact between them. Knowing her, she was probably in a deep state of sulky denial. Which meant it was up to him to pull the poor blonde out of her funk.

Shisui sighed, running a hand through his wild spiky curls and rocking back on his heels from his crouched position in front of Naruto's bedroom door. He pouted, staring at the glowing intricate swirling seals lining the frame of Naruto's door.

Knowing it'd take him forever to figure them out, and wanting to see his Naru-chan _now, _Shisui decided to pull a page out of Danzo's book and be a totally underhanded douche.

Smirking, the oldest of the Uchiha trio blurred in his signature _shunshin, _appearing again outside Naruto's apartment complex and scaring the daylights out of a gaggle of prostitutes.

He bowed politely and apologized, only making the situation _worse_ because they found him _charming _and began asking him if he needed... _company._

_'Yeesh!' _Shisui grimaced deeply, shaking his head in negative, and giving the skimpily clad women half assed excuses about laundry before making a hasty retreat.

He successfully completed a chain of _shunshin no jutsu, _stopping when he fazed into existence outside of Ichiraku Ramen.

The raven smirked again.

"I think it's about time we had a talk, don't you, Naruto-chan?" Shisui chirped to himself.

* * *

Naruto's nose twitched.

The blonde sat up, apparently having dozed off at some point, rubbing the sleep out of her cloudy blues.

She stumbled out of bed, shuffling over to the door in a trance, following the heavenly scent that was wafting through the cracks of her door. Naruto's long blonde hair trailed behind her, hanging to the back of her ankles as it was out of it's usual braid. She was still wearing the clothes she had put on earlier after her morning shower. Black harem pants, a black quarter sleeved mesh shirt, and a dark orange crop halter top.

Undoing the seals on her door with frightening ease, Naruto slouched out of her 'yankee cave' as Sasuke dubbed it, (having previously gotten a black eye for thinking he was funny and calling it a man cave).

Naruto followed the lovely scent all the way to the kitchenette, sitting herself down in her favorite garish orange chair, and before the glorious bowl of extra large, miso flavored ramen with little narutos, an egg, and crab floating around in the broath.

Her half asleep mind didn't think it was strange in the _slightest_ that her favorite ramen was sitting at the table. Or that a pair of fresh chopsticks were pushed gently into her hand, or that her long bangs were considerately pulled out of her eyes as she snapped her chopsticks apart.

"Itadakimasu." Naruto mumbled sleepily, digging into her ramen with _far _less gusto than usual.

"How do you like your ramen, Naruto-chan?" A voice asked cheerfully.

"Yummy..." She mumbled around the noodles.

"Really? I'm so glad."

"Mmhmm..." Naruto hummed, not at _all _paying attention.

"And you wanna know what _else_ I'm glad for?" The voice asked.

"Ramen..." Naruto murmured.

"Nope. I'm glad I got to kiss you Naru-chan. And I'm planning to do it a _lot _more in the future..."

"Mmhmm." Naruto nodded drowsily.

Wait.

Wait a minute.

Did...?

"_WHAT?!_" Naruto screeched, her voice reaching pitches Sakura hadn't even _heard _of.

Naruto jumped out of her seat _so _fast, she sent her chair skidding back, her hair tangled around her legs, and she yelped, stumbling backwards to a graceless fall.

She squeezed her eyes shut, tensing for the inevitable impact against her hardwood floors.

But it never came.

"Honestly Sunshine, we have _got _to stop meeting like this."

Naruto peeked open a single baby blue, instantly recognizing that teasing tone and the position she was in.

She was being dipped by Shisui.

_Again. _

Naruto's other eye flew open in realization. Oh crap, _Shisui...!_

Naruto began squirming, trying to find an escape, looking anywhere but at that... that _face...! _Such a cute, handsome, wonderful fucking _face_ he had.

"O-oi!" Shisui yelped, wrestling with the blonde to get her to calm _down. _Needless to say, it wasn't working. "Stop moving around so much, _Naruto...!"_

_Whump. _

They both tumbled to the floor, Shisui switching their positions at the last possible moment so it was his back that hit the floor, and Naruto landed safely on his chest.

The tangled duo groaned, Naruto being the first to come back to herself, and she sat up, her hands lying flat against Shisui's chest. Her hair spilled over her shoulders, acting as silky golden curtains that shielded them from the outside world. She watched as Shisui winced slightly in pain, his eyes fluttering open, revealing his deep midnight orbs.

He smiled.

Naruto flushed.

"Shi-"

Shisui pressed a single finger against Naruto's lips, effectively shutting her up.

"Nope, I've got something to say, so I want you to just listen, 'kay?" He smiled softly when Naruto nodded quietly.

The kind Uchiha sat up, Naruto, who was straddling him, followed his lead.

"Naruto, I realize we're just going to keep running circles around each other if I don't just come out and say it." Shisui began, relieved that the blonde didn't seem to plan on interrupting him.

Shisui reached up, tenderly tucking a strand of golden hair behind Naruto's left ear. Swallowing, his face flashed with determination, and his midnight eyes stared directly into Naruto's captivating azure blues.

This was it. He was finally going to say it.

"Naruto, ever since you first agreed to let me train you, I've been in love with you."

Naruto's breath hitched, her cheeks drained of all color, before filling to the brim with red, and her hands clenched in the front of Shisui's black shirt, and her stomach began fluttering _so _persistently she felt like she was gonna hurl.

Which she did.

All over the front of both her and Shisui's chests.

* * *

Shisui had to be an angel.

There was simply no other explanation.

He _had _to be.

Not only did he carry Naruto to her bathroom and start a shower for her with no questions asked, he cleaned up her vomit. He cleaned up the vomit Naruto _had gotten all over them when he told her that he loved her._

Naruto was the worst.

She cried the entire time she was in the shower.

And the worst part was, the part that made Naruto's mortification, shame, guilt, and sadness even worse after what she had done? Shisui wasn't even mad. He must've been _crushed _after he told her his deepest, most honest to Kami feelings, only for Naruto to _vomit _on him. As if she had been _repulsed._ But she hadn't been. Honestly, Naruto had been the _happiest _she could ever remember being.

It was astounding.

Somehow... someone _loved her. _Naruto Uzumaki. Konoha's hated Demon Yankee. She _almost _couldn't believe it. But, she had never known Shisui to tell a lie. At least, not to her. She was _loved. _Preposterous. Weird... _Beautiful_. The _best damn thing to ever happen to her._ Naruto had been _so_ happy... in fact, she _still _was. It was just... She had gotten so _nervous. _It just sort of overwhelmed her and _well..._ upchuck.

Shaking her head in shame, Naruto stared at her reflection in the steam fogged mirror of her bathroom. Her eyes were red rimmed from crying, her hair was still wet, hanging limply down her shoulders and back, and she had a bit of foam collected at the corners of her mouth, having just finished brushing her teeth.

In short, she looked a fucking _mess._

Naruto washed her face, when she finished, she retreated to the safety of her bedroom, not even bothering to activate her seals or even fully close the door.

She heard Shisui start another shower. He always left clothes at her place just in case he ever returned from a mission roughed up and didn't want to go home.

Naruto curled up on her side, eventually falling into a light doze, fresh tears clinging to her dark blonde lashes.

* * *

Naruto's lashes fluttered, feeling something warm brush the hair out of her face. Knowing exactly whose hand it was, she pretended to still be out of it.

"I know you're awake, Naru-chan." Shisui laughed quietly.

Naruto tensed, hearing that perpetually kind voice tinged with _laughter_.

For some reason, this angered Naruto. What did he have to be happy about? She thought viciously. To _laugh_ about? Hadn't he just got out of the shower to clean off her _vomit? _Shouldn't he at the _least, _be _grossed out?_

_'Is he a fuckin' moron or something?!' _She inwardly raged.

The blonde sat up quickly, her back to Shisui, her fists clenching so hard into the material of her orange comforter, her knuckles turned white.

"What's _wrong _with you?" Naruto growled. "Why are you always so... _so...! _So_ kind?! _And understanding?! Don't you _ever _get angry? Get angry at me! I'm horrible! I _deserve _it! I talk like a sailor, I'm constantly insulting you, I push you away when I _know _you only want to be close to me and I... and I _threw up _on you! _How _could you _possibly_ love someone as _disgusting_ as _me?"_ The blonde would've continued ranting, but her throat closed up and her eyes began stinging.

"Eh?" Naruto blinked when Shisui suddenly blurred into existence before her. It was weird... he was _right _there. Right there and he still looked blurry, even after his shunshin.

Shisui reached out to her, wrapped his arms around her, and coaxed her into a tight embrace.

"Shhhh." He whispered. "It's okay baby, its okay... shhhh."

Only then, did Naruto realize she had began crying.

Naruto clutched the back of this... wonderful _wonderful boy's _shirt as if it was a lifeline.

"Shisui..." The blonde sniffled, tears pouring out of her eyes. "Get mad at me... _please..."_

"Nope." Shisui told her gently. "I don't think I will."

"Then _hate _me."

"I couldn't do that... I love you."

Naruto's heart melted. But then, she remembered how she emptied her stomach contents on him, and her confidence crumbled.

Her lip trembled.

"Please...?"

"Nope." Shisui denied, stroking her hair gently.

"You're an idiot..." Naruto whispered weakly.

"I know." Shisui whispered back.

"You should hate me."

"But I don't." He pointed out.

"Sometimes, I wish you did..."

"But I never will..."

Naruto sniffled.

"Naruto?"

"Hai?"

"I love you."

"I-"

"Shhhh." Shisui shushed. "Nope. I'll wait, Naruto-chan. You can tell me how you feel, when you're ready."

Naruto pulled back slightly, but not away, and stared in complete teary eyed awe at all that was Shisui Uchiha.

"You really _are _an angel." She breathed without thinking.

She recoiled when Shisui released a bark of startled laughter.

"Naruto, you are something else." Shisui sniggered, swooping down to peck the blonde sweetly on the tip of her nose.

Naruto squeaked, a pretty blush blooming across the bridge of her nose and flooding into her cheeks.

Shisui grinned brilliantly, causing her flush to darken considerably.

"I love you, Naru-chan."

"Sh-shut up. Stupid." The blonde sputtered, her tummy doing backflips.

Her Uchiha just continued to glow, truly happy.

* * *

Though, all was not well.

Little did anyone know, under the blanket of peace, old anger began to fester, and it was only a matter of time before it began taking lives.

It was around sunset, a lone figure standing in a koi garden was gazing into the distance.

Fugaku Uchiha stared spitefully at the face of Sarutobi Hiruzen carved into the side of the Hokage Monument.

"It is only a matter of time..." He muttered darkly to himself. "Your rein has long ago ended. The Uchiha Clan shall once again prevail, old man."

* * *

From his hiding spot around the corner from the main house's koi pond, Itachi's face went grim.

Troubled, the quiet Uchiha's form dissolved into a flock of crows, fleeing skyward.

_'This will not end well...' _


	11. Sunset, Gives Birth To Shadows

**Thanks so much for the feedback guys. ;)**

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy. **

* * *

"Ne, Shisui?" Naruto called, lying on her tummy atop her orange comforter.

"Hmmm?" The Uchiha hummed behind her, running a brush through her long hair.

"Why do you call me," She cut herself off, probably to blush, Shisui noted deviously. "Um... why do you call me Sunshine?"

"Hmm? That's easy."

"How so?" Naruto prodded.

The brushing stopped.

Her bed creaked in protest as Shisui leaned over her back, and dangerously close to her ear.

"Because you brighten up my day," He whispered exaggeratedly.

Naruto deadpanned, picking her pillow up and smacking it against his face a little _too _roughly.

"Im being serious, moron." She huffed, dragging herself into a sitting position.

She turned around to face the raven haired teen, sitting criss cross applesauce.

Shisui just raised a perfect black brow.

"You really want to know?"

The blonde nodded eagerly.

He smiled.

"It's really not as glamorous as you might be thinking." He said. "Remember when we first met?"

Naruto's nose wrinkled cutely. "Of _course_ I remember that! You felt me up, dattebayo!"

"Nu-uh, I was helping you fix that atrocity you called a kenjutsu form!" Shisui defended, and then coughed, remembering why they were talking about that time in the first place.

"It's really simple. If I remember correctly, the sun was setting, and I was chasing that blasted dem- I... I mean Tora, and when I caught 'em, I looked up and remembered thinking _'what's the sun doing down here?'. _But that was stupid and I immediately realized it was your hair. And that from where you were standing, the sun had lit it up perfectly and it was like a halo of gold..."

Shisui sighed dreamily, nostalgic.

"I remember thinking you were an angel, well," He snickered to himself. "Until you opened your mouth, that is."

"Hmph!" Naruto huffed, turning away, apparently insulted, though, she was really hiding a soft smile behind her hair.

"Aww, don't be that way Sunshine." Shisui coaxed, twirling a strand of gold around his finger. "If I really cared about how foul your mouth was, would I still be around?"

He burst into laughter when Naruto began attacking him viciously with her pillow again.

"That's not what you were supposed to say, you jerk!" Naruto yelled, though, she was grinning uncontrollably.

"Then what _was _I supposed to say?" Shisui snickered, shielding his head from the fluffy onslaught. "It's the truth!"

"You're a moron." Naruto huffed, but ceased fire.

"Hoh?" Shisui raised a brow. "Is that a smile I see?"

"No," Naruto gruffed falsely, turning away. "No it's not. I'm furious. I hate you. I hope you choke of feathers and cotton."

She shoved the pillow with frightening accuracy into the center of Shisui's face, still turned away from him.

Shisui tossed the pillow away, peering around to glimpse at the blonde's face, but her hair was in the way.

The kind Uchiha slipped his hands under the the golden curtains of Naruto's bangs, pushing them back out of her face, his heart skipping a beat at her absolutely _radiant _smile.

He swallowed.

_'So... beautiful...' _He thought helplessly. _'I never stood a chance against that smile, did I?'_

He grinned back, just generally happy that he could be with Naruto.

_'I love her so much...'_

* * *

"Brother," Sasuke called.

Itachi stopped in his tracks, having been about to retire to his room for the day. The sun was setting, and he was tired after a day of ANBU training. He hadn't told anyone but his father and Shisui of his involvement in the organization, and didn't plan to, as ANBU life was meant to be confidential. Shisui would have figured it out on his own anyway. Thus, he had been informed.

"What is it, foolish little brother?" Itachi asked blankly.

Sasuke clenched his fist, reminding himself that Uchihas don't rise to petty teasing.

"Where have you been lately?" Sasuke demanded. "No one else seems to notice, but ever since you became a Chunin, you've been going to training less and less. And now, it's even worse. I don't even train with Shisui and Naruto anymore because they're always in their own world."

Hn. So his little brother was more observant than he let on. It made Itachi happy that Sasuke was worrying about him in his own way, but he could not allow Sasuke to become involved in his affairs.

Yes, ANBU was becoming more demanding, and Itachi was beginning to make _quite _a name for himself, but Sasuke or Naruto didn't need to know any of that. Shisui, even sharing the same reluctant views towards violence as Itachi didn't count, because he was a part time ROOT operative. Both eldest Uchiha's hands were already submerged in blood. And if Itachi's inquiry was correct, his father would only demand Sasuke's become just as tainted in due time.

The quiet Uchiha knew it was only a matter of time, if it hadn't happened already, Shisui would be checking up on him. After all, Itachi knew he was acting strange in all of their eyes. And he was. But in reality?

He was scared to death of what his father would ask him to do.

"It is nothing of your concern, foolish little brother." Itachi said, inwardly wincing at how cold he had sounded.

He left Sasuke standing in the hallway, retiring to his room to muse to himself in troubled silence.

* * *

Itachi stared into the dark eyes of the messenger hawk perched on his windowsill. A scroll was fastened to it's back.

The quiet Uchiha got up silently from his bed, and retrieved the message, rubbing the bird on it's head with two gentle fingers of thanks.

Itachi's expression immediately became bleak.

A summons from his father and the Uchiha elders.

* * *

"-since the NineTails attack, the Uchiha have been pushed back as if Konoha is _ashamed _of us! The Hokage favors those blasted Hyuuga over Uchiha, which is _preposterous, _as we are the ones with the superior _doujutsu!"_

Itachi watched impassively as the elders in the dark underground passage beneath the Uchiha compound argued amongst themselves.

"Hai, and let us not forget how we are offered no real missions, and are stuck to either rot behind desks, take escort missions no one else wants, or to join the Uchiha police force."

A round of nods passed through the elders, and murmurings began to rise up, filling the room with white noise.

"Enough." Itachi's father, clan head, Uchiha Fugaku finally spoke up.

"We did not come here to share complaints. We have already done that, and even went so far to take them to the Hokage. But what has that brought us?"

No one said a word.

"Nothing." He answered his own question, cruel black eyes pleased when the room became deathly silent, all ears captive to his voice.

"We have all come to a decision to solve every last one of our grievances, the only reason behind our meeting today, being the welcoming into our ascendance to my son, Itachi."

Itachi's blood ran cold when everyone in the room turned to him with greedy, expectant eyes.

"We would like you, Itachi Uchiha, to lead the Uchiha back into greatness." Fugaku announced, spreading his arms grandly.

"To lead the Uchiha's coup d'etat."

And suddenly, all of Itachi's fears were coming true.

* * *

Shisui kissed Naruto's lips softly, pulling her blanket up to her chin and smiled fondly down at her peacefully sleeping face.

He climbed out of her bedroom window, closing it behind him and activated the seals.

Taking to the rooftops, Shisui released two quick bursts of chakra. Two shinobi who were secretly ROOT operatives garbed in the Uchiha police uniform appeared at either side of his back, heads bowed in respect, kneeling.

"I'm growing weary." He told them seriously.

This was a face he wore and prayed to Kami Naruto would never have to see. This was the nameless shinobi that protected the village from it's shadow.

"I don't want to suspect him of foul play, but the village comes before anything." Shisui stated gravely.

His most trusted subordinates said nothing.

"Follow Itachi Uchiha." Shisui ordered. "Do not return until you know what he is hiding."

The two kneeling shinobi's forms blurred, gone as quickly as they'd come.

"I smell blood on the horizon." Shisui murmured, he to, fazing out of sight.

* * *

A week later, Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to have aged ten years in a single day. The once proud wrinkles on his face were no longer proof of his skill to survive so long as a shinobi. Instead, they were deeply set in his grimly taut expression, and they seemed to put him closer to the shinigami than ever before.

Shisui Uchiha kneeled behind The Third atop the Hokage's Tower, having just informed him of most worrying news.

"The Uchiha are planning to coup." Sarutobi stated.

"Hai." Shisui confirmed.

Sarutobi sighed tiredly.

"I knew this day would come."

"Sir?" Shisui questioned.

"When the time comes, I know you will do what is right, my boy."

"Of course, Hokage-sama."

Shisui disappeared with shunshin.

* * *

Naruto sat on her apartment complex rooftop, lips pursed as she gazed towards the Uchiha Clan District.

The place always gave off the undertone of negativity, such was the way of most Uchiha. But lately, it had been pouring off of the place in waves. Usually Naruto only sensed it if she was passing by, but she could feel the negative vibes spilling out of the area all the way across the village.

The blonde was growing worried, because Shisui and Itachi, if she even saw the two, were giving off waves of worry, _constantly. _First it was only Itachi becoming distant, but Naruto had just thought that was the stress of being a clan heir. Then Sasuke, though, she knew he just felt awkward being around her and Shisui alone. So he trained mostly by himself and hung out with the blonde at school. And then recently, Shisui had been around less and less too. She knew she saw him everyday, and anyone would assume she was overreacting because she was so used to his presence, but Naruto knew better.

Something in the village was amiss.

And it was affecting her boys.

_'This feeling... something terrible is going to happen. I just __**know **__it.'_

* * *

Hinata Hyuuga peeked meekly from behind an abandoned dango stand up at the most beautiful person she had ever known... _well_, seen... because she hadn't _quite _worked up the courage to talk to her yet.

Hinata's cheeks were beet red as she gazed up at the blue eyed beauty perched hazardously atop an apartment rooftop. Her golden hair was free of it's usual braid, dancing slightly to the gentle evening wind.

_'Sh-she's so pretty... and s-strong... I hope I can be just like you one day, Naruto-chan. '_

Hinata would have continued to inwardly gush and admire her secret idol, but her sharp, pupiless, lavender eyes caught sight of the absolutely _troubled _expression on Naruto's face.

_'W-what could make you look so worried, Naruto-chan?' _The gentle Hyuuga wondered.

_'I h-hope everything will be alright... Oh, who am I kidding? This is Naruto-chan. And she can do anything.'_

* * *

Danzo smirked darkly to himself, having just dismissed his two Uchiha ROOT operatives.

"And what will you do now, Shisui my boy?" He asked in the thick darkness of his underground office.

"Well, no matter. For _I _will do all in my power to protect Konoha. By _any _means necessary. "


	12. You're My Sunshine

**Twintania, join me, and we shall lead legions of Shisui fangirls to conquer the world! Bwahahahahaha! **

***Chokes on spit* U-um... sorry... *rubs back of head sheepishly* Moving on!**

**Thanks for the follows and favs guys (BlackFire my friend). You're wonderful. ;) **

**Ages:**

**Shisui: 15 Naruto: 13 Itachi: 13 Sasuke: 12**

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. **

**This chapter made me hate myself. T^T**

* * *

Six months went by with village tension filled to the brim. The Uchiha elders and Fugaku were working out the very last kinks in their plan to coup. The Third was subtly preparing his Jounin and Chunin for civil war. And Shisui... Shisui realized that he had failed.

But things were not over just yet.

Shisui stared at the handful of ROOT squads across the forest clearing that had been sent to capture him. Dead or alive. He knew Danzo-sama was just trying to protect the village in his own way, and that's why Shisui didn't feel betrayed. But there were people _within _the village that Shisui desired to protect, so he could not afford to die yet. With that thought in mind, the Uchiha's resolved hardened.

Shisui's face smoothed over, becoming completely expressionless, and his Mangekyo Sharingan flared to life, inky pupil spinning threateningly within his bloody iris.

"Please don't resent me," Shisui said bleakly. "But, I will have to end this quickly."

Sickly green chakra began radiating off of Shisui's body, increasing to monstrous proportions in a matter of seconds. The chakra began forming a giant, humanoid, skeletal formation around Shisui's person. Slowly, muscles and tendons spawned, as fine as spiderwebs, slithering across the brightly glowing bones. Flesh and skin began creeping over the giant's bare face, arms, and rib cage, soon, followed by the solidifying of heavy armor.

The result was a petrifying sight.

Shisui was completely guarded by the upper body of a ghastly green phantom, with a behemoth drill like lance clutched in it's right clawed hand. The phantom stared soullessly, with glowing yellow eyes at the ROOT shinobi across the clearing, it's wide mouth falling open, revealing a set of lower elongated canine teeth. Steam rolled out of the titan's jaws, and it raised it's lance slowly, the same time as Shisui crossed his arms from within it.

"Wh-what _is _that?" One of the ROOT asked.

He received no answer.

"Smite them, Susanoo." Shisui commanded gravely.

The flaming green phantom released another jet of steam, complying with it's master's order.

Mere moments later, the clearing filled with terrified screams of agony, and the sound of blood being spilled.

* * *

Hinata Hyuga sat in her bedroom, quietly pressing flowers from her late mother's garden for her scrapbook collection.

She hummed demurely to herself, content.

In a matter of _seconds,_ lavender eyes went wide, a hand slapping over them and her mouth from behind.

Hinata gagged.

They tasted like blood.

"Relax," A male voice ordered. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Hmph! Like Hinata hadn't heard _that _before. The last time she had believed those words from a stranger, Neji-nii-san's father had ended up dead.

"You don't know me," He continued quickly. "But you know Naru-chan, do you not?"

Hinata's breath hitched. Oh Kami, did something-

"She's fine." He stated. "Actually, I came on her behalf."

Hinata made no sudden movement, her interest thoroughly peaked. What could this stranger want from _her _for _Naruto? _

"I know how you always watch over her," He said, probably oblivious to the shame and mortification that simple statement brought forth within the shy Hyuga. "But that won't be enough anymore..."

"...?"

"Please stay by Naruto's side in my place."

The hands released her.

Immediately, Hinata whirled around, only getting a glimpse of something black before it was gone.

The intruder left nothing behind but the slight metallic scent of blood.

* * *

It was already half past eight p.m, and Naruto had been training since twelve in the afternoon. The blonde had become so used to hours of training without end, she wasn't even tired, and had barely worked up a sweat.

Shaking her head at her utter awesomeness, Naruto collected all of her weaponry from the surrounding targets in the Forest of Death.

Placing them back in the pouches on her leg and hip, she turned around to leave, only to smack right into someone's chest.

The blonde released a short startled scream, calming down immensely when she noticed it was just Shisui.

"You jerk you nearly gave me a heart attack!" She yelped indignantly. "I didn't sense you at... all... Shisui?" Naruto trailed off, azure eyes going wide when she noticed the haggard state the Uchiha was in.

"Oh _kami... Shisui...!" _Naruto reached up, taking hold of his cheeks tenderly, noticing how deathly pale he was even in the darkness of the forest.

The blonde pursed her lips worriedly as she brought Shisui's face closer to hers for inspection, feeling her pulse begin racing at the sight of the fresh stream of crimson still seeping through his right closed eyelid.

Naruto's eyes darted all over Shisui's uncharacteristically stoic expression.

She remembered this expression on Shisui. The last time he wore it, his comrades had been slaughtered and he'd nearly gone mad.

Naruto _never _wanted him to experience such suffering again.

"Shisui... what _happened _to you?" Naruto demanded, trying with all she was not to let her panic seep into her tone. This was no time to beat around the bush. The blonde needed answers. _Now. _"Where's your eye?"

"Naruto," Shisui finally said, causing fear to twist within her belly at his emotionless tone.

"I'm sorry." Was all he said, pulling away from her hands and _turning his back._

_'D-don't go! Shisui...!'_

"Shisui!" Naruto yelled, causing him to stop in his tracks. "What's that supposed to mean? What's going _on? _Why won't you say anything? What _happened _to you? And _where _are you _going? _Tell me..." She pleaded feebly towards the end.

Naruto noticed the Uchiha's fists clenching at his sides, his body _literally _shaking with restraint.

"I'm not coming back, Naruto." He stated blankly.

Naruto felt panic begin twisting in her gut, along with this inexplicable sense of confusion and _anxiety._ Her skin drained sheet white at those glacially spoken words.

"W-what do you mean?" She croaked, sounding as if she was having the very _life _strangled out of her.

"Itachi will tell you everything."

That was the last straw.

Naruto burst forward with a speed she didn't know she was capable of, _so_ fast her after image was left two feet back where she had once stood, dissipating like a ghost in the night. The blonde collided with Shisui's back, and wrapped her arms around his torso, uncaring of how he reeked of smoke and blood, just clenching the material of his black shirt as if her life _depended _on it.

"What does Itachi know that I don't?" She whispered desperately. "Why can't _you _tell me, right now? Why won't you be coming back? Who could've done this to you? Where's your eye? Why is your chakra in such _turmoil? _Why won't you _look at me?"_

She wanted to keep bombarding him, rattling off questions and demands, but she forced herself to stop. Waiting for him to answer.

"Itachi doesn't know yet." Was all Shisui said. "But he will. I'm going to see him after you."

"Then where will you go?" Naruto urged, her eyes stinging so persistently, and her heart aching so _deeply _she didn't even think to stop the endless flow of tears that poured out of her eyes.

Only Shisui could ever bring forth tears within Naruto so easily.

They just kept flowing out, soaking into the back of the raven's shirt.

"Where are you going Shisui?" Naruto begged, her voice muffled in his back, choking on the sobs that suddenly began racking her body. "Y-you can't just _leave._ H-how can you just say you're leaving? Huh? How am I supposed to react to that? Huh? Tell me!"

She was met with a cold void of silence.

Feeling awfully helpless, more so then she could ever remember being, Naruto plowed forward. She couldn't second guess herself here. The blonde couldn't ignore this torment. She _needed _him to understand.

"H-how can you leave when I haven't told you how much I love you yet?" She sobbed brokenly.

"E-eh?" Naruto blinked when the warm body she had been clinging to tore out of her embrace.

She stared up at Shisui with tearful eyes as he finally turned to face her again. He was smiling the most fond, yet despaired smile Naruto had ever seen. It was a small smile. Not his goofy grin, or his mischievous smirk. It was just the slightest of upturns at the corners of his lips. It looked like someone was slowly ripping out his soul, and he was trying to smile at Naruto, just to lighten _her _pain. Even if not by much.

The effort alone was enough to destroy her.

"You silly girl," He whispered shakily, as if trying not to cry.

He took hold of either side of her face, so carefully with his blood smeared hands, as if she was made of glass... and smiled. His remaining sharingan eye was filled with _so _much helpless love and regret it tore Naruto's heart to shreds.

"Silly, silly girl... You'll make me do something horrible if you say that, Naruto."

Shisui thumbed away a few stray tears, and leaned in.

The kiss was chaste and sweet, and _awful_, because it felt like he was trying to tell Naruto a thousand things in that one touch that she couldn't understand. That she would _never, _understand. And Naruto wanted _so badly _to understand.

The blonde pressed back, allowing her own eyes to fall shut as she too, told Shisui things through their kiss that he'd never hear.

It ended all too soon, Shisui pulling away, his lone eye searching Naruto's. What he was looking for, she did not know.

"Shisui, I love you." Naruto said. "I love you _so much...! _Th-that's why you can't... you _can't...!"_

"Shhhh." He shushed her gently, one hand releasing her whiskered cheek, seeking her hand out to engulf it in his own.

Naruto bit her lips, fresh tears spilling out of the broken dam that was her eyes.

Shisui placed Naruto's palm flat against his chest. Over his heart.

"I am a shinobi that protects from the shadows. With my mind, body, and even some of my soul." He began quietly.

"But you..." He shook his head, took a deep breath. "You, Naruto, you've got my heart. All of it. That's why I _have_ to go. It's the only way I can do my duty to the village as a shinobi, and as Shisui, the boy, to protect the girl Naruto I love more then _anything _in this world."

"Oh Shisui..." Naruto choked. "Shisui..."

"All I can say, is that you will _never _know how sorry I am, Naruto. And you need to know that I will _not _let you follow me into the darkness. Because you're my Sunshine, the one who reminds me not to forget the sunrise. So you can't forget either Naruto. _Promise."_

_"I promise." _Naruto cried. "Shisui... I promise to never forget the sunrise!"

The raven nodded, relieved.

"I'm so glad..." He breathed, smiling radiantly. "Naruto... I'm _so_ glad I met you. And I'm even _happier_ to have gotten to fall in love with you."

He stole one last kiss from his precious Sunshine, which the blonde desperately wanted to tell him was unnecessary. Desperately wanted to tell him she would give him all the kisses he wanted, all the kisses she _should have _already given. She would do _anything. _Anything if he just _didn't _leave.

But she didn't.

Naruto knew that unbreakable will within his remaining mangekyo eye. Nothing would sway him. Not even her.

She could not stop him. And so she said nothing.

She just stood there, feeling utterly useless as he stepped back, smiling a beautifully broken smile, and flickered out. He left no trace of his presence in the eerie night.

Shisui just flickered. Naruto's mind tried to process this information. It stuttered, and paused, and blanked out until she finally _got _it.

_'Shisui just flickered...!'_

It was over.

Just. Like. That.

Nothing. Nature's silence swallowed her being.

Naruto fell to her knees.

"W-what?" She breathed, choking on bafflement. On _sorrow. _"I d-don't... I don't understand..."

_Yes you do..._ The voice whispered.

And she did.

So she screamed. And she screamed. And she _screamed. _


	13. Misery And Company

**Dude... if you hate me, I understand. I hate myself too. But worry not, things will look up again. It's only a matter of when. **

**Gets dark in this chappie.**

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy...?**

* * *

Two shinobi stood on the cliffside that lead down into the depths of Naka River. They stared unblinkingly into each other's eyes.

"Shisui is dead." Itachi stated flatly.

He didn't try to stop the punch that flew at him. Nor did he try to right himself when it connected savagely, and sent his body skipping like a stone across the cliff side's grassy slope. Itachi tumbled, rolling to a stop, covered in dust and his freshly broken nose gushing geysers of dark blood. His body remained limp as a hand yanked him up by the front of his ANBU vest. The fist slammed into the center of his impassive face again. And again. And again.

He didn't try to stop it.

Even though it felt like he was being pounded with bricks, and his face ached and throbbed _so _fiercely he thought it would split open. The person that straddled him, attempting to liquify his face with their bare fist alone, was livid with grief.

He knew.

He knew because he felt that grief too. Though, not on the same level.

Itachi didn't love Shisui the same way Naruto did. When it all boiled down to it, Itachi had more than just Shisui.

Naruto... right now, Naruto felt as if she had nothing.

Itachi couldn't tell you how long they stayed there, with Naruto exhausting her helpless anger and pain against him. But he knew it had been a while.

He felt like the shinigami was looming over him. He couldn't even open his eyes, as they were filled with blood, and swollen closed to ugly blue-black silts.

"It should've been you." Naruto hissed menacingly. "It should've fucking been _you...!" _She choked off, nearly incoherent with rage.

Itachi couldn't help thinking that she was right.

"Fucking Uchiha... Fucking village. Fucking _Danzo...!" _The blonde roared.

Itachi had told her everything. About the coup, about how Danzo betrayed Shisui, about how long he'd been in ANBU, about the two operatives Shisui sent to check up on him, and even about how ROOT shinobi had silencing seals on the back of their tongues.

Everything he knew. Naruto knew it too.

"I should raze this village to the ground." Naruto growled. "I should render everything to fucking _ashes!"_

"B-but you won't." Itachi said, choking through his blood filled mouth, not caring how his voice stuttered, because it didn't matter. He felt like death. He probably _looked _like death.

"Y-you won't d-destroy e-everything Shisui s-sacrificed h-himself for..."

He heard Naruto release an explosive sigh of resignation, and something thumped down beside him.

"You're right." She finally said.

Hearing that, Itachi expelled the crow clone he left for Naruto to vent on, stepping out from behind a tree at the base of the cliff.

Naruto lied on the ground, dark smudges under her bloodshot eyes from crying, looking almost wraith-like in her anguish. Her eyes were wide and wild, her complexion pale, her posture weary, seeming to have already given up on... _everything. _

"What will you do?" She tiredly asked towards the night sky.

"I'm going to see Danzo."

Naruto's body shot up, blonde head snapping in his direction, and she was in front of Itachi before he could even blink.

"Are you _crazy?" _Naruto hollered, sounding raspy, as if she had previously screamed herself hoarse. "He _can't _be trusted. I thought you'd know that after something like... like _this!"_

Itachi's bland expression softened at Naruto's defeated, sagging form. Despite what she had said as she pulverized his clone, Itachi knew the blonde would never wish him harm.

"Self sacrifice (1)..." Itachi began softly, gaining the blonde's attention. "A nameless shinobi who protects peace from within it's shadow... That is a true shinobi. That is what Shisui taught me."

Naruto gathered Itachi into a tight hug.

"I _can't _lose you too... Itachi." She whispered.

The quiet Uchiha wrapped his arms around the one, who had become his surrogate little sister. The one he loved almost as much as he did Sasuke.

"You _know _someone must stop the coup. And you also know Danzo will drag Shisui's name through the mud. I _mustn't _let that happen."

"Damnit!" Naruto cursed weakly. "I wish it didn't have to be this way. I wish you didn't have to face that old bastard alone. I wish that Shisui- _damnit!"_

The blonde felt like a child again. So alone and helpless without a clue as to how she would make it through to see another day. Naruto had not felt such sadness in a long time. She had not felt so _lonely_ in a long time.

She had hoped... hoped so _foolishly_, that she never would.

"Naruto," Itachi said, quickly coming to a decision, his nose buried in her golden tresses.

"H-hai?"

"Retrieve Shisui's body." He ordered. "I will not allow him to fall into anyone's foolish hands. I will protect this village as a shinobi, my family name for Shisui, and those who are dear to me for myself."

Naruto pulled back from Itachi to stare at him.

She shuddered involuntarily.

_'Those eyes...' _Naruto thought. _'So strong. .. Just like... just like Shisui's...'_

"It will be said, that Shisui crushed his eyes, and destroyed his own body." Itachi informed her. "Naruto, this is of the utmost importance. You must find a place to hide Shisui's body where no one will ever find it."

She saw dark eyes like that everyday. Three boys who were her family. Her beloved moron trio of Uchiha...

She could never deny them anything.

Naruto swallowed.

"H-hai."

"And Naruto," Itachi said again.

"Hai?"

"Arigato."

* * *

The first rays of gold crept across the horizon, spilling over the forest in the distance, and setting the village dimly, yet breathtakingly alight.

Naruto stood atop the highest point in The Village Hidden in the Leaves. At her feet, lied Shisui's peacefully sleeping form.

The blonde stared with quiet sorrow down at her love.

_'You even died with a small smile on your face...' _She thought sadly. _'How do you manage to look so peaceful?' _She wondered.

_"Kraw!"_

Naruto glanced up at the barely there moon, watching as a pitch black raven descended from the dark skies above.

She wordlessly held out an arm, the crow latching it's gray taloned feet into the mesh of her sleeve as it landed.

"What beautiful eyes you have." She told the dark bird.

It merely cocked it's head at her, it's peculiar mitch match eyes gleaming in the combined light of the sunrise and the moonlight.

One was a black as an abyss, the other, as red as a pool of fresh blood.

Naruto bit her thumb hard enough to draw blood, the crow hopping off if her arm to perch instead upon her shoulder.

Using her un-bleeding hand, she pulled up the hem of her shirt, revealing a flat tanned abdomen. Naruto used her bleeding appendage to draw a seal upon herself, within the convoluted lines lying the kanji for both "contain" and "seal". When she was done, her thumb quickly healed, and she channeled chakra into her stomach, causing the bloody symbols to begin burning and glowing a bright orange-red.

"In you go." She said softly.

The crow cawed again, darting off of her shoulder and away, only to double back sharply, flapping its ebony wings and spiraling mid-air. The crow did not stop it's flight as it drew closer and closer to Naruto's stomach, and when it reached her, it's being was swallowed completely by the seal she had drawn there.

"You're not getting him," Naruto told the air darkly. "Nor his remaining eye, you bastards. You will have to tear it from my cold dead corpse before you even get _close _to touching it."

"Do not resist us, Uzumaki." One of the two ROOT shinobi behind her stated blankly. "We will not hesitate to use force. Surrender the body of Shisui Uchiha and the eye."

"I told you didn't I?" She muttered darkly. "Tear it from my fucking corpse!"

When the wakizashi of the first ROOT slid through the back of Naruto's throat, she looked surprised. But then her image faded out, and she appeared behind the operative in a show of frightening speed.

He did not get a chance to be surprised before his head hit the ground, severed cleanly by Naruto's drawn katana.

The ROOT's partner made to attack, but Naruto just appeared behind him as well, slapping a tag with the kanji for "stun" against his back.

He was rendered defenseless and frozen stiff in his tracks.

Naruto casually flicked the blood of his comrade off the tip off her blade, spraying his back with red.

The blonde rounded the operative and stared into the eyeholes of his blank porcelain mask.

"You wear that cursed Uchiha symbol on your back." She stated. "But you are one of Danzo's men... so you were the one's that sold Shisui out to Danzo."

"I was merely doing my duty as a shinobi." He said emotionlessly.

"By selling out your kin to a greedy old cripple?" Naruto spat, eyes flashing red.

The ROOT flinched.

"If you hadn't of told Danzo anything, Shisui wouldn't be dead, and Itachi wouldn't be trying to speak to a deaf man!"

"I was mere-"

"Shut the fuck up." Naruto snarled, hand darting, as dexterous as snake beneath his mask, pinching his tongue between her thumb and pointer finger.

"This tongue only speaks bullshit, and I _hate _bullshit."

She stared with glowing eyes, so red and full of rage they reminded the ROOT of molten pits of lava. One where it was only a matter of time before the volcano would erupt.

"This tongue is **mine.**" Naruto growled.

She then, tore it from the back of his throat with an abominable lack of mercy.

He could not scream, for blood choked him, gushing out of his gaping mouth and trickling in dark red streams from beneath his mask.

This was not Naruto Uzumaki.

This was Konoha's Demon Yankee. The girl who knew no mercy. No humanity. The girl who only knew anger and pain. She had reverted back to before she knew Shisui, or Iruka-sensei, or Hokage-Jiji. After she met the Hokage, she had slowly began regaining her humanity. But now, at the very peak of anguish and rage, she had forgotten herself.

Tossing away the useless lump of flesh in her hand, it burst into flames and collapsed into ashes before it even touched the ground.

"The chakra of your corpse will fuel the seal I created to contain Shisui's body." The Demon informed the pitifully gurgling man. "As long as the seal is unbroken, Shisui's body will not decay. Unfortunately, you won't live to see another sunrise. All powerful seals require something to be exchanged in return for working. So, I need your flesh."

"Sacrifice... a nameless shinobi protecting from the shadows..." The demon quoted.

The sun began rising, and red eyes returned to their usual baby blues.

"That is a true shinobi."

* * *

Giant, vermillion red eyes slowly inched open from a long forced slumber.

**"Ahhh... So the jailer uses my chakra." **A deep voice rumbled.

"So, you're the reason everyone mistreats Naru-chan? Well, I guess I always kind of knew."

The towering shadowed form crawled closer to the bars of it's prison, pressing a huge furry muzzle against the rusting metal. How had it not noticed such a powerful presence invading the seal? It wondered.

**"And just **_**who **_**are you, little ape?"**

"You can just say we're roomies now." The "ape" said cheekily. "Pleasure."

The creature behind the bars growled menacingly.

**"I predict I will be even more miserable in the foreseeable future."**

"Don't get in my way, and I won't get in yours." The "ape" laughed.

As if on cue, _another _presence appeared.

"Oi, furball? What's all the racket?" A feminine voice murmured from deep within the cage. "Did _she_ finally find her way in here?"

Yes, most miserable indeed...

* * *

**1\. Totally don't own that quote. It was originally said by Itachi to Naruto in the anime. ;)**


	14. From The Shadows

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. **

* * *

One day after Naruto sealed Shisui's body away, she once again, stood atop the highest point in the village. The sun had set once again, though, long ago. It would rise again in three hours time.

Naruto gazed out to the village. All of the houses, and the buildings, and the streets, were asleep. A person wondering about here and there through the darkness. Store owners rising early to stock their shelves and clean their floors and whatnot. But overall, Konoha was resting. ANBU were hidden in the shadows, protecting silently the place they called home. Protecting... from the shadows.

_'Shisui...'_ She grieved.

Naruto felt the early morning breeze behind her shift, someone materializing behind her with the softest sounds of beating wings.

"Itachi." She stated.

"Naruto." The raven greeted simply. "I have returned. And I know what I must do."

The blonde's hair stirred in a sudden gust of wind, the moonlight setting the fair strands alight in an eerie white glow.

Naruto turned around to face her brother, blue eyes half mast and full of unending sorrow and guilt. The Demon Yankee had exhausted her rage yesterday, but Naruto Uzumaki knew she would return in due time.

Naruto Uzumaki was left with the consequences.

"What did the old cripple say?" She finally asked, voice holding no real bite.

She had killed for the very first time yesterday. Yes, she had been overtaken by rage and sadness, but Naruto thought she was done with that. She thought such anger might not ever reach her again.

But... it actually had gotten _worse. _

After she met Shisui... She began to believe that maybe she could be who she once was... but it would seem she had locked that part of her too deeply away, and the monster the villagers had created still lied just beneath the surface of humanity her precious one's gave to her. Naruto's broken heart was rendered to shreds when she realized what she had subjected the ROOT shinobi too as the sun rised. She was simply a monster that had fell in love.

And now her hands were stained with blood. She could _never _return to the child she had once been.

"The Uchiha must die." Itachi stated. "It is the only way to save our village from the destruction of civil war."

Naruto's hooden blue eyes widened, catching a ray of moonlight that made them glow with horror.

_'No... NO!____This will destroy them!' _She thought, abhorred. _'Sasuke... Itachi... what will become of my brothers? Is this what sacrifice means? Is this what it means to protect from the shadows?'_

"You can't be serious." But she knew he was. "You would kill your family for this village? The village that took Shisui away from us?" It wasn't the village. She knew. It was Danzo.

"This is the only way," Itachi's glowing, new mangekyo eyes wept mournful tears of blood. "This is the only way to keep the least amount of bloodshed from staining Konoha."

"So you will create a disaster to prevent another?" Naruto spat. "Please explain to me the logic of that, because obviously I'm too dense to see it myself!"

Itachi's face remained indifferent.

"It is the closest to the right thing to do." He stated. "The Uchiha name will not be sullied by their foolishness, innocents will be allowed to live happily, free of war, and Sasuke will rebuild the clan anew, with your help, the cursed hatred of the Uchiha will not live on."

"I'm full of just as much hatred as any Uchiha!" Naruto argued. "This world will eat Sasuke alive without you, Itachi."

Itachi smiled.

"Perhaps, but you are also kind." The raven said. "I believe time can heal you, Naruto. I believe you can protect Sasuke in my stead, because he is innocent now, you can guide him. What I am going to do will ruin him, but I truly believe you can save him."

"Itachi..." Naruto breathed. "If you are not strong enough to protect Sasuke, what makes you think I am?"

Itachi took a step forward, and closed the space between them by hugging the blonde.

"Because you are my sister." He whispered into her hair.

And just like that, tears were pouring out of her eyes.

"You Uchiha's will never bring me anything but grief, will you?" She asked weakly.

"I'm sorry..." Itachi said.

_'I'm sorry... He says... And it only makes things so much __worse__.'_

_But you know you can't fail him._

The voice was right.

"Okay..." Naruto sniffled, voice muffled by the raven's shoulder. "Okay, you win..."

Itachi pulled away, looking deep into Naruto's tearful eyes.

"The next time we meet, we will be enemies. No one must ever discover the truth, Naruto."

"Shisui intrusted me with his eye, and I have instrusted it to you. Protect Sasuke, the village, and Shisui's memory."

It would be done. All of it.

"Very well." Naruto bowed her head in acknowledgement. "I will protect are foolish little brother, Itachi. _I promise."_

The raven stared deep into her azure blue eyes. He saw her resolve.

And he knew.

He knew she would not break her word unless she was dead. That was enough. Because Naruto was not going to die so easily. He and Shisui had made sure of that.

Assured, Itachi's form burst into a flock of crows, silent as death as they fled skyward, towards the Uchiha district.

Naruto's eyes followed until the distance swallowed him from sight.

_'From the shadows... Self sacrifice... protection... suffering... you...' _She thought_. 'Itachi... you are a true shinobi.'_

_But is that a good thing? _The voice wondered.

Naruto did not know.

* * *

Naruto returned to her apartment, and retired to her bedroom.

What she saw stopped her in her tracks.

Shisui's tanto lay on her bed with a note.

The familiar lazy scrawl made fresh tears pool into her eyes.

_"So we can protect the village always together, Sunshine."_

* * *

Six months went by.

Naruto trained in the Forest of Death. Sasuke was having his genjutsu broken mind pieced together in the psych ward of Konoha's hospital.

When Naruto saw him again on Academy graduation day, he had a fully matured three tomoe sharingan in both eyes. The blonde aquired the shadow clone jutsu from The Third, having caught a traitor who had worn a teacher's skin for _years_ in the act of trying to make off with the sacred scroll of forbidden jutsu. She found out about the fox.

She was too tired with the world for it to break her even more.

The blonde tried to speak to Sasuke the way she used to, before the Uchihas' unfortunate end.

He was too full of hatred.

Naruto resolved to protect him from the shadows.

* * *

Team seven consisted of one avenging Uchiha, one grieving Uzumaki, one screeching Haruno, and one aloof Hatake.

After three months of dysfunctional team dynamics, they received their first C rank.

They departed to Wave in one day.

Naruto silently wondered why she felt uneasy.


	15. Departing To Wave

**Don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy. **

* * *

Of course, Naruto had sensed the ill intent coming from the puddle from the very beginning. Not to mention, it hadn't rained in several weeks. So where could that water have come from in the middle of a deserted forest?

The blonde wasn't surprised when ninja jumped out of the puddle. But she was when their gauntlets and chains rended Kakashi-sensei to a bloody pile of fleshy lumps. She knew based on the surge of chakra that had come from him, that he had used substitution. Though, she couldn't figure why he would leave two C class missing nin to a trio of green genin, no matter how skilled two out of three of them were. Naruto could easily be rid of the Demon Brothers, but Sasuke, the fool, rushed off and pinned one of their chains to a tree. A good ways away from the rest of them, and leaving himself completely open for ambush in case the missing nin had allies.

Naruto, had taken the safety of Tazuna the drunken bridge builder, and the pink banshee into consideration. So she threw herself in front them both, deflecting the oldest Brother's gauntlet with her love's tanto, drawing the katana she still wore on her back, and bisected him diagonally from shoulder to opposite hip.

Sakura screamed and fainted.

Tazuna vomited and followed her lead.

Naruto flicked the blood off of both her blades, sheathing them on her back, side by side.

"Tch." She growled, noticing the nick on the side of her tanto wielding hand. She still wasn't good enough with the short blade to use it in actual battle.

The blonde stared down at the man she had reduced to sloppy pieces.

He still had wide eyes, forever frozen in panic and fear.

_'Humans are so fragile.' _Naruto thought grimly, blue eyes going dull as she watched blood spread in a red halo around the rouge nin's corpse. _'Even if shinobi training makes you stronger, humans are inevitably weak.'_

What a frightening thought.

"Herm..." Kakashi-sensei said awkwardly, having just reappeared and finished choking out the remaining demon brother brutally. "Good... job...?"

"Tch." Naruto tutted.

* * *

Kakashi tried to console the blonde after her first kill, and she put on a good act. He truly believed he had helped her, and perhaps he did slightly. But another's blood was staining her hands anew.

Naruto would never be okay with that.

* * *

When Tazuna came to, Kakashi made him spill the beans about the true danger of the mission. He did so, telling a whole sob story about how a greedy businessman was sucking Wave dry and the people had fallen into unimaginable poverty. Thugs and missing nin were after the old man's head, but he was still building the bridge in hopes to connect Wave to other nations and trade routes.

Naturally, Kakashi had decided because Sasuke had something he needed to prove and the ever sheep-like Sakura agreed with him, that the whole team should continue on the mission.

Don't get Naruto wrong, she felt for the old man, being dirt poor herself and had often resorted to robbery, mugging, and bullying to get by, but wouldn't it be wise to at _least _call for back up? Sure, Kakashi-sensei was an elite or whatever, but _still. _One elite against possible _numerous _elite kind of amounted to shit.

Informing the silver haired enigma of this just got her eardrums blown out by Sakura. Naruto decided to just let things play out before she ended up skewering the pinkette with her sword.

_'I bet in a few hours we're gonna be attacked by an A ranked nin.'_

_Sadly, I think you're right for once. _The voice deadpanned.

* * *

Walking down a worn forest path, Naruto's eyes flashed, her hand blurred as she flicked a shuriken into the bushes at her left.

"Naruto what the hell?!" Sakura screeched, pulling them aside to reveal a terrified white bunny with a shuriken lodged in a tree mere _millimeters _above its head.

"It's just an innocent little bunny you psycho!"

The pink thing then began cooing at the critter, and apologizing like a complete moron.

But Naruto's eyes narrowed.

_'I know I sensed someone there...'_

"That rabbit is white..." Kakashi-sensei murmured.

Naruto's eyes bulged.

_'It's not winter... that thing should be brown!'_

_Which means it was kept inside... _The voice continued.

"It was used for substitution!" Kakashi unknowingly finished.

_'Shit! We're being watched! Like __prey__!'_

Something began whizzing above, slicing through the air at amazing speeds. And by the sound of it, it was _big._

"Everybody get _down!" _Kakashi roared.

The genin hit the deck, Kakashi dragging Tazuna down to safety.

_Thunk._

Naruto peered up through her bangs, blue eyes widening at the sight of a bandaged man appearing atop the behemoth sword that had lodged itself in a tree.

"Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi drawled, smoothly rising to his feet. "Missing nin of the Village Hidden in The Mist."

"My my," Zabuza said in a deep gravelly voice. "If it isn't Konoha's Sharingan master. Kakashi the Copy Ninja."

"Sharingan?" Sasuke gritted out, also getting to his feet.

Naruto was by his side in an instant, taking hold of his arm.

"Nows not the time." Naruto warned him.

"Che." Sasuke grunted, yanking his arm away from her.

Naruto pretended that it didn't sting that he did so.

"Hand over the old man, his head is mine." Zabuza growled, making the old drunk squeak in fear.

"Yeah right." Naruto scoffed, going to Tazuna and pushing him behind her, drawing her katana. "This old man's my paycheck. I gotta eat, y'know?"

Zabuza raised a non existent eyebrow.

"You think you could take me in a sword fight blondie?"

_'Whether I'm strong enough doesn't matter, you're not taking me seriously and that alone will be enough for me to succeed in taking your head.'_

"All of you get back!" Kakashi interrupted. "This fight is way out of your league, just protect Tazuna."

"Well," Zabuza sighed. "Looks like I'm gonna have to fight you before I can get the old man."

His wicked grin was visible even through the bandages around his mouth.

"Can't say I'm not happy at the thought of cutting you open though, Copycat."

"If I'm gonna fight you, I'll need this." Kakashi muttered, pulling up his peculiar slanted hitai-ate, revealing a fully matured sharingan and jagged scar.

"Oh how fun," Zabuza sang. "I get to see the famous sharingan so early in the fight? I'm honored."

_'Are they gonna keep having a dick fight or are they gonna spill some blood already?'_ Naruto thought, annoyed.

_Oohh, catty. _The voice sang.

"Che." Naruto huffed, standing in front of Tazuna, whose back was to a tree, and Sasuke was to his right, with Sakura to his left.

"Y'know, I read about you in my bingo book," Zabuza began, pulling his sword out of the tree to land on the forest floor silently. "It mentioned a man who was a true elite, a man who had copied over one thousand jutsu."

"That's why you little brats are nothing." Zabuza growled. "You're not a shinobi until you've bathed yourself in the blood of others..."

Naruto, having long lost her patience, ignored the lecture, and how Kakashi added his two cents about the infamous Demon of the bloody Mist, Devil Zabuza.

She snapped back to attention when an unnatural mist began creeping over the clearing they were in.

_'Perfect. He's a water user, and there's a fucking lake fifteen meters from our position.'_

"Be careful," Kakashi warned gravely. "He specializes in silent killing, and'll come after me first, but don't let your guard down."

"_The spine, clavicle, skull, heart, lungs and stomach..." _Zabuza listed, his voice resonating eerily throughout the clearing. _"So many choices... Heh. Wonder which one I should choose?"_

Naruto noticed Sasuke began trembling in fear from the corner of her eye, his obsidian orbs glazing over, no doubt flashing back to some of his worst memories involving his last moments with Itatchi. Sakura had tears pinching the sides of her mint green eyes, her knees trembling, threatening to give way under her weight.

_'They're terrified.' _She inwardly grimaced, feeling unease creep up on her as Zabuza's menacing presence threatened to end her as well as the last member of her trio of beloved Uchiha. _'They're not ready for something like this... We're not ready as a team... and Sasuke is still recovering mentally from... no. Can't think about that. I've got a job and a promise to take care of.'_

Naruto clenched her teeth, jaw setting stubbornly as she braced herself for whatever was to come.

"Hey," Kakashi called to them. "Don't worry, I never let my comrades die."

Naruto appreciated the eye smile, noting Sasuke and Sakura looked less scared, and gripped their kunai more steadily at the assurance. She felt a bit of hope, knowing that Kakashi would be trying his best to help them through this, and with that, she felt more confident in her abilities to assist him and her teammates.

"Don't make promises you can't keep!" Zabuza roared, launching out of the mist to bisect Kakashi with his sword.

The aloof Hatake spun around, narrowly missing his death and rammed a kunai into the back of the missing nin's spine.

_Splash._

Liquid splattered across the grass.

But instead of blood, it was water, which Zabuza's skewered form proceeded to collapse into a puddle of.

_'Water clone...!'_

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura wailed.

But it was too late, the real Zabuza was already materializing behind the Hatake, swinging his blade grandly and cutting his opponent cleanly in two.

Sakura screamed.

Sasuke winced.

Tazuna looked crushed.

And...

Naruto smirked.

The supposedly dead Kakashi melted into a puddle of water as well, his real form appearing in front of Sakura to fend off the water clone that snuck up behind them.

He shoved his kunai into the water clone's chin, killing it.

Sharingan flashing, Kakashi darted off into the thickness of the mist, soon, the sound of grunts, and clashing metal filled the air.

Naruto squinted when she heard Kakashi release a sound of pain, the mist clearing just enough for her to spot the two elite ninja on the surface of the river.

_'Oh no...!' _She thought helplessly.

"Fool!" Zabuza taunted. "You made the mistake of allowing me to heard you towards the water."

The missing nin flashed through handseals, and Kakashi's eyes bulged.

"**Water style: Water Prison Jutsu**!"

"Dammit!" Naruto spat, watching as her Sensei was engulfed in a ball of water, Zabuza's hand holding it in place.

"What will you do now, little genin? Your sensei is caught in my liquid prison." Zabuza grinned, dark eyes taking on a deranged gleam. "You're all gonna die."

Sakura began whimpering, snot and tears streaming down her deathly pale face.

Sasuke's brows lined with nervous sweat.

Naruto glared fiercely.

_'If you think you're gonna so much as __blink __at Sasuke in a way I don't like... I'll cut your tiny little dick off, no-brow.'_

"Get out of here!" Kakashi yelled, panicked. "This fight was over the _second_ I got caught! His clones can't go too far from his original body. And he can't move as long as he has me trapped here. So take Tazuna and run!"

"You saying you think we're worse than scum, Sensei?" Naruto demanded, causing Kakashi's mitch match eyes widen. "What happened to never abandoning your comrades huh? Don't you classify as our comrade? I'm not leaving. I'm a lot of things, but scum ain't one of 'em."

"Big words for such a little girl." Zabuza sneered.

"Che. Whatever, no-brow." Naruto dismissed.

The missing nin snarled at her.

"You brat!"

_'This "brat" will cut your tongue out of your face, moron.'_

"Go on you kids." Tazuna said, resigned. "I'd feel horrible if your sensei died because of me."

"Thanks Old Man." Naruto said, grinning something wicked.

"Sasuke," She barked. "I've suddenly been hit with a plan."

"Hn." The Uchiha smirked. "Then by all means, loser."

_'So kicking your butt for that later, duckass.'_

"Imma need a little something to turn up the heat, if you catch my drift." She winked.

Sasuke simply sped through handseals, and Naruto flashed into action, sending a barrage of shuriken at the seven water clones that dragged themselves onto the bank of the river, just as Sasuke called out his jutsu.

"**Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu**!"

The orbs of flame were aimed perfectly, engulfing Naruto's shuriken in their orange-gold glow.

The flaming shuriken sank into the forehead of every water clone, causing them to explode in a show of water and steam.

Naruto used the new cover to toss Sasuke a demon windmill shuriken, when the steam cleared, he was already preparing to launch it at the immobile Zabuza.

Though too late, did Sasuke notice the water clone forming out of a leftover puddle behind him. And he was sent skipping like a stone after the clone slammed it's foot forcefully into his back.

"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed.

Naruto growled, seeing absolute red.

She made to tear into a sprint to aid him, eyes bulging when a hand caught the end of her braid, and yanked her back. As she was falling, the second Zabuza clone stomped down on the center of her chest. The ground beneath her back webbed with cracks at the sheer force of it, and something gave way in Naruto's chest with an audible _crunch._

"G-gah!" The blonde choked, metallic crimson spurting from her lips.

_You were too hasty. _The voice chided. _Calm down. You're better than this._

_'Fuck that. This guy is getting his ass __beat__.'_

The voice merely sighed tiredly.

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled, distressed.

The water clone sneered down at Naruto, kicking her in the face mercilessly, sending her soaring into a tree and crashing down like a marionette with cut strings.

Groaning, the blonde rolled onto her side, already feeling her bones snapping back together, and blood trickling from the corners of her mouth as she watched a Zabuza clone stomp on the hitai-ate that had fallen from her forehead.

"You think you're a ninja because you wear this on your head?" The real nuke nin demanded. "Well, you're not! You won't be _anything_ but snot nosed brats who can barely wipe their asses without help until you've killed!"

"Shut up." Naruto wheezed. "What do you know about me and what I've done you sissy little bitch? How the _fuck _would you know if I've spilled blood or not?"

Zabuza, his clones, her team, and Tazuna stared with wide eyes as Naruto staggered to her feet, a mulish expression twisting her brows into a scowl, and turning the sides of her pursed mouth down.

"Get your disgusting foot off my fuckin' head gear dickhead!" She growled. "I earned that headband fair and square, and I'm not parting with it even in my grave."

She had walked right up to Iruka-sensei after she passed the graduation test and he told her she could pick any hitai-ate she wanted, gesturing to the basket full of shiny new head gear on his desk. Naturally, Naruto had taken his right off his head, gave him a smarmy grin, and tied it around her head instead.

She _earned _it. Who was this fucktard to tell her she wasn't a shinobi? She was Naruto Uzumaki. Shisui Uchiha's girl. And she didn't take bullshit from _anyone. _

With that in mind, Naruto burst into action. Drawing her tanto, expertly falling into a slide as she drew near. She lopped off the clone's leg that stepped on her hitai-ate.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**!"

Two blonde clones poofed into existence behind the now one legged water clone, one slit its throat, and the other stabbed its spine.

Water splashed onto the grass as the clone died.

"Sasuke," Naruto called. "Get up. Now I'm _mad_."

The Uchiha stumbled to his feet, just as Naruto's clones crouched down, linking hands for her to step on.

Naruto retied her hitai-ate, stepping on the hands presented for her, and the clones launched her into the air. They poofed away once their purpose had been served.

The still flabbergasted, remaining water clone by Sasuke gaped as the blonde curled into a ball mid-air, flipping expertly and smashing her sandaled feet into the center of his face. The force of her kick was _so _excessive, he bent all the way backwards, Naruto's feet riding his face like a skateboard. The back of his head was skinned, reduced to a line of water as Naruto grinded it into liquid against the ground.

The blonde back flipped away just as his form burst into a puddle.

"Throw the fuckin' shuriken." She cursed.

Sasuke complied, tossing the giant weapon at the original Zabuza with an impressive speed and accuracy.

The real Zabuza just blinked, tilting his body slightly so it soared past him.

"Really?" He asked. "After all that big talk, all you were gonna do was throw a shuriken at me? I just dodged it."

"Look behind you, turd face." The blonde spat.

Just as she said that, another clone popped out of the shuriken's shadow, melting into a blonde blur as it zipped across the lake, tanto a silver gleam as it sped hazardously towards the missing nin's throat from behind.

Zabuza whirled around, using the flat of his giant sword to stop the clone's tanto from killing him.

_Screeeeech!_

A show of sparks exploded as the two blades met, Zabuza's eyes widening when the clone grinned at him with vermillion colored eyes.

"You fuckin' fell for it, dipshit."

"Wha-"

Kakashi appeared just as the clone dispersed in a puff of smoke, uppercutting Zabuza with a heinous amount of force.

Launching up from the force of the blow, the missing nin soon crashed through the lake's surface, coming back up sputtering.

"You let go of Sensei's water prison to block Naruto's clone." Sasuke smirked.

"Nice plan, Naruto." Kakashi praised. "Good teamwork, Sasuke."

"Heh." Naruto grinned viciously, thumbing away a ribbon of blood from her mouth. Sasuke, resisted the urge to preen in his pride.

"Bested by a couple of brats?!" Zabuza exclaimed, enraged.

He climbed back onto the surface of the lake, sopping wet and looking like a petulant drowned rat.

"What'll you do now Zabuza?" Kakashi asked. "Just to let you know, I don't fall for the same trick twice."

Too blinded by his anger, Zabuza failed to notice Kakashi had just finished a set of handseals.

"**Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu**!"

A giant water dragon rose up from Zabuza's right, glaring at him with livid red eyes. It released a monstrous roar, slamming into the missing nin's side and rocketing him off, forcing him to crash into numerous trees, his back snapping them into halves.

When his impromptu flight stopped, Kakashi pinned him to a tree with kunai by his chest and thighs.

"F-fuck me..." He rasped in pain, red blooming behind the bandages around his mouth.

"No thanks," Kakashi declined cooly, flashing in front of him. "But tell you what? I can see your future. And it's death."

Just as Kakashi made to ka-bob his skull, two senbon lodged into the side of the Mist nin's throat.

Zabuza's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he slumped forward, dead.

"You were right," A new, young voice interrupted. "His future _was _death."

_'Who the hell is this masked pansy?' _Naruto thought.

Though, she had no time to ponder such things, as Kakashi-sensei had just collapsed in chakra exhaustion.

_'Oh hell.' _She thought irritably. _'Who's gonna carry him?'_


	16. Within Wave

**Thanks for the follows and favs guys. They make me happy. :) I Don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy.**

* * *

"So... he's not dead." Naruto said.

"... yeah."

"Fake hunter nin?"

"Yeah."

"_Fuck. _"

* * *

Kakashi had figured out that Naruto and Sasuke didn't need training in tree climbing, so he gave the exercise to Sakura who had immediately picked it up and moved onto water walking. Which, Naruto and Sasuke already knew as well.

Being on crutches, Kakashi-sensei had gone back to Tazuna's house to rest, while the genin guarded the bridge and Tazuna.

After an uneventful day of work, they all went back, but Naruto insisted Sakura, she, and Sasuke spar on water down at the docks near Tazuna's house.

Kakashi-sensei spied on them, Naruto being the only one to notice he was even there.

At first, her teammates had protested to training. Though, Naruto _did_ always have a way with words.

Sasuke didn't want a broken nose.

Sakura was easily persuaded by Naruto's livid glare, and was practicing on the water with some of the punching katas Naruto had given her.

The girl had exceptional potential to throw a mean punch.

Sasuke was sitting back, glaring past Sakura's form and at someone who was not actually there.

Naruto, having it _past _her scalp with his bad attitude, stormed over to him.

Sasuke, seeing the challenge in her eyes climbed to his feet, glaring that cursed Uchiha glare.

"What?" He bit out.

"Help me train Sakura." Naruto deadpanned.

"No. I don't have _time _for a weakling like her. She's only been slowing us down so far anyways."

_'Oh yeah? But you've got time to glare at a fucking ghost right? 'Cause that's just __**way **__more productive.'_

"She's our teammate!" Naruto scowled. "If you don't like how weak she is, help her get _stronger._"

"I said no, _Naruto._" Sasuke growled, flashing his sharingan at her menacingly.

She nearly flinched.

Instead, she slapped him hard across the face.

"Don't you _dare _look at me with those cursed eyes Uchiha!" She sneered.

_'This little fucker needs to learn being alone will __**ruin **__him.'_

_But can you actually get that through to him?_

_'Kami knows I'll try...'_

Sasuke cradled his stinging red, handprinted cheek, nearly gaping at her because he couldn't _believe _she had actually hit him.

It wasn't so much about being hit by the blonde, because she had blackened his eyes on more than one occasion. It was just what she was hitting him _for._

"You'd hit me for _her?_" He demanded, rage soon taking over his surprised features. "It's the truth! She's _nothing!"_

That was it. Naruto had enough. Was he really _that _much of a fool? She would not allow it.

Naruto's hand darted up, taking hold of Sasuke's chin in a crushing grip, and she leaned down so they were completely eye to eye.

"You want to let hatred and your desire for revenge consume you? Fine." She hissed.

_'But I'll never let you.'_

"But while you are _here, _on team seven, we _will _operate as a successful unit. _All _of us. _Together. _You don't have to _like _it, but you _will _help me turn Sakura into a true kunoichi. _Period. _Is that understood?"

_'You're not as alone as you feel. Kakashi and Sakura are apart of your life now. And you have me. That will never change.'_

"Tch!" Sasuke snatched away from her grasp savagely, glaring at her with far less Uchiha death glare and a lot more petulant little brother.

"Who do you think you're ordering around? I don't have to-"

Naruto's fist crashed into his face, cutting him off and sending him tumbling ass over head into the cover of the trees.

"I said, _period."_

_'I'm not doing it to hurt you. I'm doing it because I love you.'_

When Sasuke dragged himself back to the clearing, Sakura was ecstatic he was going to teach her how to kick.

Naruto smirked victoriously.

But inside, she was in turmoil.

_'Damnit! Hitting him is not going to keep him in line forever. The longer that hatred inside of him festers, the harder it will be to get rid of.' _

Naruto gazed skyward with troubled blues, biting her lips worriedly.

_'Shisui... What would you do in my place?'_

* * *

Kakashi smiled, a real one, beneath his mask as he watched Naruto lecture Sasuke about teamwork.

_'I... think this team will be just fine.' _He thought, he too, gazing skyward, visible ebony eye shining with a nostalgic gleam.

_'They really are good kids... misguided... but good kids nonetheless.'_

* * *

Sakura was absolutely _ravenous _at dinner.

_'Not screeching about that diet of yours now are you?' _Naruto thought wryly.

"That's right pinky, eat up," Naruto taunted. "We've got alot of work to do if we're gonna turn you into a _real_ ninja."

_Bang._

_Screeeeech! _

Inari, Tazuna's little grandson shot to his feet, his chair lied on it's back on the dining room floor.

"Why do you all try so hard?" He demanded, sounding one short breath away from sobbing. "Who do you think you are coming to our home like you're some kind of heros? Huh? Heroes don't exist! Weak people get kicked down by the strong, and Gato's really strong! You're all gonna die 'cause you're _weak _and you don't know what it really means to suffer!"

The first thing Naruto did was plant a heavy hand on Sasuke's tense shoulder.

She felt the muscles forcefully relax beneath her palm as she soothed it with her wind chakra.

And then, she slowly stood up to her full 5ft 5 height.

"Little boy," She drawled, gaining everyone's undivided attention. "Do you think crying is going to bring back whoever Gato took from you?"

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, appalled. "You went too far!"

"Sakura." Naruto flashed a pair of cold glacial blues from behind her bangs, making the younger female recoil in fear. "Shut up."

The blonde turned back to the wide eyed boy, no one moved as she approached him, holding their breaths to see what she would do. The blonde only stopped, when she was looming like a foreboding shadow over his slight form.

She sank down to one knee before the child, who couldn't be more than six years old, and she stared into his eyes deeply. They were a sad pair of brown eyes. Just a little boy who had lost someone very dear to him.

"You shouldn't assume things about people you don't know," Naruto chided softly, surprising everyone when she gave him a tiny smile. "You're hurting inside, I see it when I look at you. But, every last one of us, even Sakura, has suffered before. Some much greater, and some not so great. That's why, because you still have your family by your side, you should cherish them instead of pushing them away. Because you will regret someday, once they're gone, that you didn't tell them how much you loved them like you should have."

"It's true. The weak are beaten by the strong. But that's why you should become strong yourself, so that you never have to cry over the same thing again."

With that, she simply patted him on the head gently, rose, and turned to leave. Not leaving before brushing past Sasuke, and running a comforting hand through his hair.

The front door clicked shut quietly as the blonde left.

* * *

Naruto listened outside the front door as Tazuna told the story of Inari's father being killed by Gato.

"How sad." She murmured to herself, taking off toward the forest.

* * *

The next day, Naruto woke up in the afternoon with horrible aches and pains, having trained vigorously with her tanto until well past sunrise.

She caught the hand that had been slowly reaching for her.

"What are you doing?" She rasped.

"You'll catch a cold if you sleep there, Shinobi-san."

_'I feel like... I've heard that voice somewhere. ..'_

Naruto sat up, rubbing at her eyes groggily and releasing the person's delicate hand.

"Who're you?" The blonde asked.

The beautiful girl with raven hair, hazel eyes, and a pink kimono smiled kindly.

"My name is Haku, and you, Shinobi-san?"

_'So that's it...'_

"Naruto."

"That's a nice name." Haku complimented.

"Thanks. Yours too."

"Say," Naruto drawled. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

"My friend is sick, so I'm collecting herbs so he'll feel better. Would you like to help me?"

_'Heh. Why the hell not?'_

"Sure." Naruto shrugged.

They worked in companionable silence, and then, Haku broke it.

"Naruto-chan?"

"Hmm?" She hummed, plucking a bit of rosemary and putting it in Haku's basket.

"What were _you _doing out here by yourself?"

"I was training."

"Training?" The pretty girl echoed curiously.

"Mmhmm, with my tanto, so I can use it better while fighting in real life."

"Oh my," Haku placed a hand over her mouth worriedly. "Don't you ever get scared fighting?"

"So far, there hasn't been much fighting for myself, but I think there will be a time where I'm scared." Naruto admitted.

"Oh." Haku said softly. "Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you a strong ninja?" She questioned innocently.

"I guess I am..." The blonde shrugged.

"I think, when people have something that they want to protect, that is when they truly become strong."

Naruto froze, looking up, and stared into those suddenly wise hazel orbs.

And she smiled.

"You just put words to something I found I believe in." Naruto said.

"Then you are strong." Haku smile back. "And you will only grow stronger."

"And I bet you're strong too, Ms. Hunter-nin."

Like lightning, Naruto grabbed her hand that moved towards the hidden senbon pouch under her pink kimono.

When Haku looked at her suspiciously, Naruto shook her head.

"Spilling blood on such a nice day really would be a shame."

Haku stared wide eyed as the blonde released her hand slowly, and went back to putting herbs in the basket.

_'I never want to do something evil while the sun is up, not when I don't have to.'_

Naruto eventually found herself waving goodbye to Haku, both knowing when they met again, that they would be enemies.

"By the way, Naruto-chan," Haku called back.

"Nani?"

"I'm a boy."

_'Shit... Shit man. Just...shit.'_

The voice burst into laughter in the back of her head.

* * *

Naruto trained with her tanto and katana for the next week, on the last day of Zabuza's recovery period, she overslept. And her teammates ditched her.

_'Bastards.' _She grumbled.

The blonde went to the bathroom, had a shower, groomed herself, and was in the middle of putting on her sandals when she heard Tsunami, Inari's mother, release a shriek of fear.

Naruto shunshined to the bottom of the stairs, flickering into existence just as two samurai thugs dragged Tsunami outside of her home.

The blonde followed silently as the thugs brought Tsunami to the docks, eyes bulging when Inari came ripping out of the trees and towards them.

"Let go of my mom you bastards!" He yelled.

"Inari!" Tsunami exclaimed. "No! Get out of here! _Run!"_

"Hey lookie, another pig to slice to ribbons." The bigger thug gruffed gleefully.

"No!" Tsunami screamed. "If you lay a _finger_ on my child, I'll bite my tongue and kill myself! Then you won't have a hostage!"

The smaller thug with the beanie simply chopped the panicked mother on the back of her neck, effectively knocking her out.

"Mom!" Inari yelled, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Now, lets be rid of this useless brat eh?" The bigger thug giggled, unsheathing his blade.

Inari's tearful eyes widened in fear, and he stumbled back as the thug began advancing on him, falling on his bum.

Inari winced when the thug raised his dull blade, shielding his head with his arms as if they could protect him.

He waited for the pain.

It never came.

The boy peeked one eye open, both becoming saucers at the sight before him.

"Naruto!" He exclaimed.

The blonde stood over him protectively, tanto held in a reverse grip and locked against the base of the thug's blade, keep it from moving.

The thug's meaty biceps visibly strained to keep Naruto from shoving him back. But the blonde didn't seem to be having any trouble at all.

She looked at Inari over her shoulder and smiled.

"You did good kid. You did real good."

She turned back to her problem at hand, and effortlessly pushed him away, dancing back and ducking back in to roundhouse him. The blonde's sandaled foot smashed into the side of the still off balanced thug's jaw, the force of it sending his neck snapping with a loud _crack._

His body fell to the docks planks with a loud thud, his partner, quickly dispatched by a couple of clones that had shot out of the water. One came from his left, kicking the sword he had began fumbling with out of his hand, and the other behind him, wrapping their hands around his panicked face to snap his neck quickly.

Naruto didn't want to get too brutal in front of Inari. Quick, bloodless, and clean kills would suffice.

"Y-you're late," Inari huffed, tears streaming down his face, and wiping at the snot that dribbled out of his nose.

"Heh. I just wanted to give you your hero time to shine." She grinned.

Inari blushed.

He looked down bashfully, scuffing the docks with his sandal.

"T-thanks... Naruto." He mumbled.

Naruto's face softened, and she took off his hat to ruffle his hair kindly.

"Don't mention it kid."

"A-and I'm sorry... you know... for what I said before."

"It's okay, at least you know you were wrong, and you're going to change, ne?"

Inari nodded quietly wiping stubbornly at his tears.

"Dang it! I didn't want to cry!" Inari sobbed, frustrated.

Naruto tilted his chin up with the tip of her finger.

"It's okay to cry when you're happy." She told him softly.

The child rushed into her arms, and embraced her waist fiercely, crying so hard Naruto's heart would have broken for him if she didn't feel him grinning against her stomach.

"Thanks again Naruto... I-I guess... heroes really _do_ exist."

* * *

Naruto sent Inari home with her two clones and his mother. She told him, that he needed to decide for himself, what he wanted to do. And the same went for what kind of person he wanted to be. Judging by the determined look in the little boy's eyes, he would not disappoint her.

Naruto smiled as she speed through the trees in the direction of the bridge.

_'So determined...' _She thought proudly. _'For a moment... he looked just like you... Shisui. '_

* * *

Team Seven minus Naruto stood on the bridge, Sasuke and Sakura guarding either side of the terrified Tazuna's person. Kakashi stood in front of his students as the mist began rolling in, and sinister laughter echoed across the stretch of the bridge.

"Stay on your toes you two." Kakashi warned.

The young duo just nodded.

The mist cleared enough to reveal Zabuza, a squad of water clones, and his accomplice, the false masked hunter nin.

"Oooh lookie~" Zabuza drawled. "The boy is shaking from fear again."

Sasuke's hair shadowed his face as he continued to tremble, and he looked up, flashing his sharingan and a viscous smirk.

"I'm not shaking from fear," He began. "I'm shaking... from excitement!"

"Sasuke." Kakashi said.

"Right!" The Uchiha dashed forward, pulling out a kunai and quickly reducing the water clones to puddles in a flash of blue and white.

"Had a bit of training have you?" The real Zabuza asked. "Nice. You'll make a nice rival for my Haku."

Wordlessly, the hunter nin attacked Sasuke, senbon aimed at the Uchiha's throat. Sasuke back flipped, clipping the other teen in the chin with his foot. When the raven righted himself, Haku was upon him again, though, this time, Sasuke lashed out first with his kunai.

_Clang!_

Senbon and kunai locked together, each boy trying to overpower the other. Haku spun around flicking his senbon at Sasuke's neck, quickly completing a series of one handed handseals. Sasuke dived out of the way of the senbon, throwing a volley of shuriken just as Haku called out his jutsu.

"**Ice Release: A Thousand Needles Of Death**!"

A series of ice spikes shot out of a puddle near the Uchiha's feet, he weaved through them nimble as a cat, just as his shuriken landed. Haku completed a set of back handsprings, dodging the spiky weapons, sliding back when he caught himself.

The two boys stared at each other, one glaring murder, and the other reluctant to cause actual damage.

"Haku!" Zabuza called, locked into a brutal taijutsu battle with the Copy Nin. "Stop playing around!"

"Yes, master." Haku answered grimly, making handseals so fast Sasuke wouldn't have caught them if his sharingan wasn't activated.

**"Ice Release: Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors**!"

The water around the bridge rose up, gathering together around the surprised Uchiha, solidifying into thick sheets of ice in a dome formation.

"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed.

Haku stepped into one of the mirrors, all of them reflecting his appearance immediately after.

"What the hell...?" Sasuke murmured, gazing in barely concealed awe at the jutsu.

When the first senbon was thrown, Sasuke tilted his head and it merely nicked his ear.

The following senbon, he wasn't so lucky.

* * *

It didn't take long for things to go downhill.

Sasuke stared into Naruto's blue eyes, his own, wide with horror. Naruto stood in front of him, her arms stretched wide protectively, and numerous senbon sticking out of her back.

She had just came out of nowhere... one minute he was being sprayed with Haku's senbon, and the next, he wasn't. Because Naruto had finally arrived to the bridge, and the first thing she did was rush to Sasuke's aid, throwing herself in front of the lethal attack that was meant for him.

She smiled.

A ribbon of blood dribbled out the corner of her mouth.

"W-who looks like a loser now, eh Uchiha?" She smirked, wincing in pain.

Naruto coughed, spraying Sasuke's slackened face and chin with red.

In slow motion, she fell to Sasuke's feet.

Her collapsed form hit the ground almost thunderously, and it muted the roaring in the Uchiha's ears.

He kept seeing that painful smile on her face as she fell.

And he just stared down at her crumpled form.

He stared.

And he stared...

But...

Naruto didn't get back up.

Something inside of him withered. It died. And it _hurt_.

Sasuke's chakra burst from him as he stared at the girl who had sacrificed herself to protect him.

"Naruto...?" He croaked.

Nothing.

Sasuke's eyes wept tears of blood.

* * *

"Ow..." Naruto groaned. "_Fuck._"

_"That's what you get for being so hasty."_ The voice chided.

"Whatever, I saved him."

_"You were reckless."_

"Sometimes there's no time to think. Sometimes you just gotta do."

_"Wise words. Too bad you __**always **__rush in. Which means you never think things through. You're just a hot head."_

"And you're annoying. So shuddap." Naruto grumbled.

She sat up, feeling gross as she was lying in a cesspool of water. It reeked like old rugs with hidden things beneath them.

"What the? Where the hell am I?" The blonde wondered, climbing to her feet.

She glanced around, the walls a deep rusty color, and thick shadows were pooling in every corner.

"Is this a sewer?" She asked, lip curling in disgust.

_"Unfortunately, yes."_

"How the hell did I end up here? Last place I remember being is on the bridge with Sasuke and Haku."

_"Oh just look behind you already!" _The voice huffed.

Naruto complied, mouth falling to her knees at the giant cage looming over her from ceiling to floor. The gates of the cage were held closed by a single slip of yellowing paper with the kanji for seal on it.

"What. The. Fuck."

_"This is your mind." _The voice informed her, coming from within the shadows of the cage. _"I'm glad you finally found your way here."_

"Wait..." Naruto said. "Just _wait_ a damn minute! If this is my mind, and that cage is what I think it's for... _Where the __**hell **__is the Kyuubi?!"_

_"Calm down, the furball's in here. I just blocked him so he can't hear us, and we can't hear him."_

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto demanded, narrowed blues peering into the darkness of the cage.

_"Seven years since my creation and you're just __**now **__asking me that?"_

"S-seven _years?" _Naruto sputtered.

_"Yeah, right after that incident on your sixth birthday. Don't you remember feeling something inside of you snapping? And I don't mean literally like bones. I mean something in your mind... it broke."_

"No, I don't remember anything like that..." The blonde trailed off cautiously. "Why don't you come out of that cage, where I can see you?"

_"I can't come out. You locked me away in the deepest darkest part of your mind you could." _The voice sighed. _"That's why it took until you met Shisui, and you began questioning your actions, for you to hear me. But I've always been here. Since I was created, trying to reach you."_

"What the hell does that mean? Stop being so cryptic and just spit it out already!"

_"I'm saying you're freaking crazy alright? Yeesh!"_

"What?!" Naruto squawked. "No, it's not "_alright" _what the hell is wrong with you?"

_"Seriously, don't use air quotes. You look like a douche."_

"_Excuse _me?!" Naruto screeched.

_"Forget about that!" _The voice huffed. _"Don't you remember being The Demon Yankee until you met Old Man Hokage? He taught you how to care about others again. You started feeling guilty for the crimes you committed."_

"Yeah? So what?" Naruto asked.

_"Ugh!" _The blonde heard the sound of a palm smacking a forehead. _"Don't you get it? Those feelings of guilt, it was __**me**__! You felt guilty because you were beginning to remember me!"_

"Okay, so what the hell does that make you? My conscience?" Naruto asked, running a frustrated hand through her bangs. She wished the voice would just tell her straight up what the fuck was going on.

_"Not exactly..."_

"So then, what the fuck are you?" The blonde snapped.

_"For the love of Kami- I'm your humanity alright?" _

"Huh?" Naruto asked intelligently.

_"On your sixth birthday you lost all your faith in humanity. You didn't care about anyone but yourself after that. You did whatever it took to survive, not caring who you hurt or screwed over as a result. But because you can't simply stop being who you are, your mind split, and you shoved all the innocent and good things back into a corner and locked them away." _

Naruto's eyes widened, and she finally began to recognize that voice. How could she have never noticed before?

_"When you met The Third, you slowly began believing in humans again, that they could be good. And so, you regained the ability to feel guilt for the bad things you did. When you met Iruka-sensei, he retaught you compassion, and you began to help others if they let you. You were, and are still, rough around the edges. But, when you met Shisui, he taught you how to love. And you couldn't ignore my voice anymore."_

_'My voice...' _Naruto echoed. _'That's __**my **__voice...!'_

_"Ever since you met him, he began changing you, and my body, in here, has been withering away. It's because we're becoming one person again, and you don't try to ignore me anymore."_

Naruto watched with huge eyes as a form stepped out of the cage's shadows and into the orange-gold light. It was a small form. A form draped in chains that attempted to hold it back. But the form had overpowered them, as the chains appeared to be rusting away.

It was her.

It was Naruto.

They didn't look the same.

The Naruto inside the cage was a little girl, just six years old. She had big blue eyes, dark smudges of death staining under them. Her skin was white as a ghost, whiskered cheeks somewhat hollowed out from years of neglect. Her lips were bleeding as she smiled, trickles of red streaming down the corners of her mouth. There was black stitching there, trying to pinch her lips closed, but she had forced them open.

To _speak_.

It must've hurt really bad... but she... She had forced Naruto to _listen. _

_'But when did I ever __**really **__listen?'_

She was dangerously skinny, stick-like arms pinned to her sides by her chains, legs so weak they trembled as she walked, but she forced herself to stand. Her blonde hair was wild, so long it trailed behind her and into the darkness of the cage.

Naruto stared into her six year old self's eyes, alarmed to find the innocent orbs leaking tears.

_"Y-you... you finally found me." _She cried, but she looked so happy. Even though she looked like death, she was bleeding, chained, and crying, she looked _so happy._

_"Naruto you found me." _She grinned, and it was a ghastly sight, seeing those stitches stretch, and skin tear even more. But... it also... It also softened the blonde's heart. _"I'm so happy you found me again. Now I can come home."_

Naruto too, found herself crying. But she was happy. Something missing, inside of her, was no longer lost.

The blonde threw her arms open, and her six year old self wasted no time rushing through the bars, finally free.

Naruto fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around the six year old.

_"D-don't forget me again... Naruto." _She murmured. _"It was dark, and scary. And I was so alone... so don't forget, okay?"_

"I won't. " Naruto swore. "I won't forget. I _promise. _ After all...I need you, Murmur."

And now, the six year old had a name.

She was Naruto's innocence. Her honesty. Her kindness. Her compassion. Her reason. Her guilt. Her joy. Her conscience. Her humanity. And her love.

She was the voice that murmured in the dark.

She was Naruto.

Naruto was her.

They both cried tears of pure joy, finally whole again.


	17. Departing From Wave

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy. **

* * *

Sasuke stared down at Naruto's still form.

A thin halo of red spread sluggishly around her limply sprawled body.

She looked dead.

Haku knew that. And he was sorry for causing the younger boy such pain. But it was necessary in order for his master's dream to come true.

Those needles hadn't even been meant for the blonde. She simply came out of nowhere and threw herself in front of them.

"Is this the first time you have watched a comrade die?" Haku asked softly. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. She died to protect you... She was truly strong."

He meant it.

He felt awful.

He liked Naruto. They had become something of friends in the short time they had met.

"You were precious to her. So she protected you until her last breath."

"Shut up." Sasuke bit out. "Just shut up."

"I really am sor-"

"I said shut the fuck up!" The Uchiha roared, black flames flaring to life around the perimeter of the ice dome, melting them, eating away at them like a disease.

The atmosphere grew even colder, and it had nothing to do with the ice user.

This was cold rage that feared no bloodshed. In fact, it _thirsted_ for it.

"Wh-what is this _chakra_?" Haku breathed in fear.

The false hunter nin was frozen, watching in horror as the black flames around Sasuke's feet began radiating sickly violet smoke, smoke that began taking substance.

Sasuke's eyes wept tears of blood. The violet gas stretched across the dome, to the _exact _mirror Haku was in, and if you squinted, within the smoky chakra, you would see a hand. A violet bone hand reaching out to take hold of Haku's neck.

The false hunter nin sped through his mirrors to escape the gas.

It was quickly becoming an aura, taking shape. The dire shape of a violet phantom, nothing but an emotionless skeleton with abyss black eyes staring into Haku's very soul.

Haku froze.

Mid jump, he simply froze.

Wait...

No.

He was caught.

The phantom caught him by the throat.

And it squeezed. Squeezed until Haku's face was just as purple as it's hand beneath his mask.

"Sasuke."

And suddenly, he was falling.

He could breathe again.

Ice mirrors fell to the ground, shattering to thousands of pieces.

Haku lied on his side, mask forgotten on the ground as he gasped for breath. His pupils had dilated to tiny pinpricks.

He was afraid.

He had never been so afraid.

Not even when he watched his father murder his mother.

_'That boy...' _He thought, terrified. _'That boy is a monster.'_

* * *

Sasuke refused to blink, his sharingan burning the moment into his brain for the rest of his days. Sasuke watched Naruto as she pushed herself up by her arms, and they shook with the effort, blood falling from her mouth as her lungs rattled with coughs.

"Sasuke." Naruto rapsed, standing up.

She stood up.

The blonde was standing.

_Because she was __**alive**__._

Alive.

Sasuke nearly burst into tears.

The blonde gathered him into a warm hug.

Warm... a heartbeat. _Breathing._

He cried.

He told himself it was the blood from his newly awakened mangekyo.

"You dumbass. Don't go wasting chakra so recklessly." Naruto whispered into his hair.

_'Like you can really lecture me about recklessness, loser.' _He thought, far less scathingly then he liked to tell himself.

The black flames died down, and the violet specter collapsed in on itself, no sorrow or anger to fuel it's chakra. It dispersed, coiling up into the air and fading to nothing.

Sasuke clutched the back of her _awful _orange shirt.

Only Naruto could pull off such a color.

_Naruto..._

She was alive.

He couldn't believe it.

The Uchiha barely heard the sound of one thousand chirping birds in the distance.

Haku had pulled himself from the ground, threw himself in front of his master.

Kakashi rendered his heart to shreds.

Sasuke didn't care.

Naruto was alive.

He realized... he'd be lost if she was gone.

He hoped he never forgot that revelation.

* * *

Gato betrayed Zabuza.

He and Haku both ended up needlessly dead.

Zabuza killed Gato and his mob of thugs with the last of his strength, admitting he cared about Haku like his own son with his last dying breath.

Inari became a hero, because he convinced the people of Wave to fight back.

It was a sad day, but it gave the opportunity for a brand new, and better one.

That was the first day Naruto ever saw snow.

She vowed to always remember what Haku had taught her.

She had things precious to protect.

* * *

"Make sure you come back to visit us real soon, okay Onee-chan?"

"Yeah, sure thing kid." Naruto grinned, ruffling the tearful Inari's hair playfully.

Tsunami turned to Tazuna as the ninja began their trek home, backs disappearing in the distance.

"Father?" Tsunami asked.

"Yes dear?"

"What'll you name the bridge?"

"Eh? Oh... hey... What about... The Great Naruto Bridge?"

"That's a good name." Inari chuckled.

The villagers all nodded in agreement, chatting with newly found enthusiasm amongst each other.

"After all," Tazuna said, gazing back at his finished bridge. "She helped Inari, and the rest of us, believe in heroes again."

* * *

Naruto shook her head as she heard the last bit of the Wave family's conversation.

_'I didn't really do anything, I kinda just lied unconscious most of the fight.'_

Murmur giggled.

_Yeah, that's true, but you did save Tsunami and Inari. _

_'Yeah, from two no name thugs!' _The blonde huffed.

_Hey, I'm trying to be helpful here. Appreciate my efforts._

_'Keep working on it.' _The blonde deadpanned.

_Hmph! _

Naruto smirked, knowing she'd won this round.

Wait...

She was having a battle of wits with herself?

_I thought I already told you that you were crazy. _

_'Wouldn't that make __**you **__crazy too?' _The blonde asked.

_No. I represent innocence and all that other good stuff. You're the crazy one._

_'But you're apart of me!' _Naruto yelped.

_Yeah, but not the insane part._

_'Gah!' _Naruto threw her hands up in frustration. When Sasuke gave her a questioning look, she just waved him off.

_'Yo, Murmur, question.'_

_Shoot. _

_'You were trapped in the Kyuubi's cage all this time, right?'_

_Yeah... _She drawled carefully. _What about it?_

_'Obviously you knew about the Kyuubi, how come you never said anything?'_

_Would you believe the voice in your head that told you that a thousand year old chakra demon was sealed inside you the day you were born?_

_'Point.' _Naruto grimaced. _'But still, I listened to other stuff you said, maybe if you just pulled me into my mind, I would've met you a lot sooner, and saved myself a lot of grief if you just told me about the fox.'_

_Thats the thing though. _Murmur said. _I __**can't **__pull you in here. I'm just a fragment of you, you have to want to come in here, or be in mortal danger._

_'Crap. You learn something new everyday, don't ya?' _Naruto shrugged. _'Still though, you could've at least tried to say something. Or hint at it if you were worried about my reaction.'_

_I'm sorry, I really hadn't thought of that. _Murmur admitted guiltily.

_'Hey, no sweat, as long as there's nothing else in there I don't know about.'_

Silence.

_'Murmur...?' _Naruto asked uncertainly. _'There's nothing... right?' _Naruto laughed nervously. _'What the hell am I saying? Of __**course**__ there isn't-'_

_Naruto. _

_'Y-yeah?' _The blonde asked, taken aback by the six year old's serious tone.

_There's someone else in here. _

Naruto's blood ran cold, nearly stumbling in the tree she had just hopped in.

Kakashi-sensei shot her a concerned look, noting how she looked a bit pale.

"Naruto are you alright?" The Jonin asked. "Are you tired? Should we slow down?"

"N-nah it's nothing." The blonde assured him weakly.

Crap, she must've looked like straight shit if even Sakura was looking uneasy for her.

"Seriously you guys, it's nothing too bad." Naruto said. "Don't worry about me, I think I just had too many slices of Tsunami's goodbye cake."

Kakashi nodded, albeit, reluctantly.

They all turned back to their tree jumping, Naruto returning to scream inwardly at her humanity.

_'What the hell Murmur! There's something __**else**__ inside me and you're just __**now **__saying something about it? How long has it been there?!'_

_I-I don't know! A little under a year maybe? _She offered in a cringing tone.

_'__**That **__long?! What the hell is it?' _Naruto shrieked, shivering as she felt like maggots were squirming beneath her skin.

_I don't know! I don't even know how it __**got**__ into the seal! I remember thinking it was you, and I asked the furball if it was. B-but when I got to the front of the gates, Kyuubi's chakra had already dragged it to the back of his cage. _She explained frantically.

_I had my own side of the cage, and I couldn't leave it, I could only go forward to the front, but I'd still be on my own side. Kyuubi's chakra kept me from invading even more of his territory. L-like a block... a wall... yeah, a wall of chakra._

_'So... the other-' _Naruto shivered again. _'-__**presence**__ was separated from you by the Kyuubi and a wall of chakra?'_

_Y-yeah... I was on the Kyuubi's left, and the other presence on his right. _

_'Well... it can't get out... right?' _Naruto asked hopefully.

_I really don't know Naruto, sorry. _Murmur said, presence sagging in guilt.

_'H-hey... don't sound so down.'_ The blonde comforted awkwardly. _'At least I know now, ne?'_

_Yeah... but still. I'll try to be more attentive to what goes on in here from now on. Now that I'm free of the cage, I can hang in our memories. Maybe I can find something in there that'll help you._

_'Whoa, shit! That is wicked! You can do that?'_

_I just said that didn't I? _Murmur asked flatly, unimpressed.

_'Don't gotta be such a jerk about it...' _The blonde sulked.

_Whatever. But yeah, I can. So I'll search through our memories. It'll take a long time because I don't know how the human mind works, just stuff you've read in books about sealing certain things away... and plus I have to start from the beginning of our memories, even though I know the answer won't be there. Then I'll have to sort through all the repressed memories or foggy ones and-_

_'Activating ignore button.' _Naruto said robotically.

_Hey! _Murmur whined indignantly.

_'Naruto's Witt Score: 1,999 Murmur: 1,997.'_

_You just made that up! _Murmur huffed.

_'I totally did.' _Naruto snickered. _'We both know I'm winning though.'_

_Hmph! As if! But, whatever. Back to the point at hand. I'm going to start sorting through our memories. Don't do anything stupid while I'm occupied._

_'No promises.'_

_You're hopeless. _Murmur giggled.

_'Guilty as charged.'_

* * *

The genin left their sensei to report to the Hokage about the mission, all going their separate ways.

Naruto went to the highest point in the village, where she had sealed Shisui's body.

She sat down and told him about her first C rank. Laughing as she remembered how she lost her temper and cussed Zabuza out.

"You'd probably say something completely moronic like, 'Sunshine, what were you thinking? You had a party without _me_?' ...Heh." Naruto chuckled to herself.

"I miss you _so much, _Shisui." She whispered, absently wiping the wetness that stung at her eyes. "You're really the only guy I've ever shed so many tears for..."

_'I won't ever regret loving you though.' _

The blonde quietly watched the sunset, pretending Shisui's ghost was watching it with her.

She fell asleep up there, something warm brushing her cheek just as she was on the edge of sleep.

The blonde assumed she was just imagining it was a comforting hand, and that the wind was playing tricks on her.


	18. Start, Chunin Exams

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. **

* * *

One month after their first C rank mission, team seven sat in their assigned training grounds, waiting for their chronically late sensei to show up.

Naruto sluggishly twirled a blade of grass between her fingers, wondering when the silver haired enigma would arrive.

Three hours late, he did so, with an audible poof behind them. The pre-teens hopped up and turned around to face their Sensei.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura roared.

"Maa, Hokage-sama lost his Viagra, so I had to go all the way to the Sand Village because all our markets were out and buy him some more."

There was silence.

Naruto broke it by releasing peals of racking laughter.

"W-what the fuck is _wrong _with you Kakashi-sensei?" The blonde guffawed. "Th-that's the worst one _yet!"_

"Y-y-y-you..._you_ PERVERT!" Sakura screeched, red face clashing horribly with her hair.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, looking mildly ashamed for the older male.

"Maa, I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." Kakashi said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Next time, I'll make extra sure it's even worse."

"Oh kami, I'm gonna _pee! _Stop! _Stop it! _Yer killin me!" Naruto laughed, slapping her hand against her knee in glee.

Sasuke shook his head at the blonde's antics.

"Can you just tell us what you called us here for Sensei?" Sakura nearly demanded, obviously having had enough of her team for the day. Well, not including Sasuke.

"Oh, that." Kakashi said flippantly. "I nominated you for the Chunin Exams. Sign these forms by friday and turn them in at the Ninja Academy. Ja ne!"

The silver haired enigma waved stupidly and poofed out of existence, leaving three slips of paper to fall uselessly to the grass in his wake.

"YOU USELESS EXCUSE OF A SENSEI!" Sakura exploded, outraged.

* * *

"Ow!"

"Oops! Sorry dude."

"That hurt, you little punk!"

"H-hey man, I said I was sorry!"

"Yeah? Well sorry ain't gonna cut it brat. I'm gonna teach you a little lesson in manners!"

Naruto stared as a guy wearing maroon makeup, and a black S&amp;M catsuit picked up a small child by the front of his green shirt. Two other little kids, one with snot on his lip, and a girl with thick pigtails stood on the sidelines, looking scared.

'_Geez, all he did was bump into him, and he __did __say sorry. What's this guy's prob?'_

"Oh no!" Sakura, (who had decided to follow Naruto because she got rejected brutally by Sasuke again) exclaimed."Naruto, _do_ something!"

"_Me?" _The blonde pointed to herself, as if there was another sunshine blonde girl named Naruto around.

"Yes!" The pinkette hissed.

"Okay,_ yeesh…_" Naruto pouted.

She walked over to S&amp;M Pansy Boy just as a dirty blonde haired girl with four ponytails began reprimanding him for his behavior.

"Hey SMPB!" The blonde called, catching the attention of everyone. "Let the brat go."

"Naruto!" Said brat exclaimed happily, wriggling out of SMPB's grasp and scurrying over to duck behind her legs. The other two did the same, their little hands clutching the back of her orange top, frightened.

"Who the hell are you? And how do you know my name?" The blonde asked over her shoulder.

The brat that had been getting bullied looked crushed.

"Boss, don't you remember me? It's me, Konohamaru! You're prized protege and future husband!"

"What the...?" Naruto said, perplexed.

Wait…

"Konohamaru…" She drawled in bafflement, before recognition began blooming within her blue eyes. "Oh yeah! You're the kid that demanded I teach you after you tripped over your scarf and failed to assassinate the Hokage!"

"Assassinate the Hokage?!" Sakura echoed, abhorred.

"Yeah, he's the Hokage's grandson, wanted to gain respect from people by becoming the Hokage, and naturally assumed that meant to kill the old man."

"Oohhhh..." Sakura nodded, as if that made perfect sense.

"Yeah, he's also got some delusion that if I teach him, he'll become a ninja that'll eventually surpass me and I'll have to marry him."

Sakura giggled at Naruto, cooing about how precious it was that he had a crush on her.

"Don't encourage him, pinky." The blonde growled, looking rightfully annoyed when Konohamaru began rubbing his cheek lovingly into the small of her back.

"HEY!" SMPB yelled. "Don't ignore me you shitheads!"

"Oh, sorry," Naruto said, herding the three brats behind Sakura, taking threatening steps towards the boy. "I honestly forgot you were there."

"You bitch!" He spat, reaching behind him, grasping the large bundle of bandages on his back. "Don't you ignore me! I'll show you!"

"Kankuro!" The girl behind him exclaimed. "You're gonna use Crow here? Don't be so stupid. Just knock it off!"

"Shut up Temari." The newly dubbed Kankuro barked. "I'm gonna teach this weak little slut some manners."

"Uh-oh." Sakura muttered, shushing the three kids worrying behind her gently.

"Oh, so you're gonna teach me something you obviously know jack shit about?" Naruto questioned snarkily, causing Kankuro to fume.

"I'm not involved." Temari huffed, crossing her arms irritably. "If _he _finds out, I'm not defending you, moron."

"Whatever." Kankuro scoffed cockily. "_He's _not even here. And I'll have dealt with this slut _way _before he even shows up!"

Kankuro took one step towards Naruto, and something whizzed from above, impacting harshly with the hand reaching for 'Crow'.

_"Yowch!" _Kankuro yelped, glaring down at the small rock that had hit him.

"You shouldn't attack people so recklessly, especially if you're a guest in their village, loser."

Everyone gaped, save for Naruto, who looked bland, and stared at the Uchiha crouched in the tree above them.

"OMG! Sasuke-kun, you're so _cool!" _Sakura gushed.

_'No, he's just trying to __look __cool.' _The blonde thought flatly. _'And supposedly __I'm __a loser?'_

"Who the fuck are you?" Kankuro demanded, throwing his hands up in irritable exasperation.

"Kankuro."

Everyone froze.

Immediately, Naruto's blue eyes hardened to glaciers, glaring up back at the tree Sasuke was in, and at the boy with the kanji for love tattooed on his forehead, standing upside-down behind her surrogate little brother.

"G-Gaara!" Kankuro stuttered stupidly.

"I _told _you to knock it off." Temari sneered, though, curiously enough, she seemed just as scared as Kankuro was.

"You know our... _teammate _has a short temper..."

This only caused Naruto's eyes to narrow suspiciously.

The boy with blood red hair that had startled the daylights out of Sasuke disappeared in a swirl of sand, materializing once again before the still sputtering Kankuro.

"Th-they started i-it Gaara! I s-swear!"

"You liar!" Sakura blurted. "You're the one who was bullying a defenseless kid, shannaro!"

Gaara's sea foam green eyes were dead, framed by death black insomnia rings, so void of emotion it was absolutely _chilling_. He sliced them over to the pinkette, causing her to pale, and then back over to Kankuro, who gulped loudly, opening his mouth to no doubt tell another lie.

"Shut up Kankuro." Gaara ordered coldly. "Or I'll kill you."

Naruto pursed her lips, unnerved by how seriously the boy stated he'd kill his own teammate.

Kankuro simply clamped his jaw closed, and Temari began shaking slightly in terror.

_'Something isn't right with this guy... he... he __meant__ that...'_

Sasuke hopped out of his tree, his eyes telling Naruto he was still a bit ruffled by the fact that he obviously hadn't sensed Gaara behind him.

_'Gaara...He's good...' _Naruto thought grimly.

"We didn't come here to fool around." Gaara stated, turning to Sasuke, and Naruto, who had walked over and positioned herself slightly in front of the Uchiha. "I am sorry for my teammate's foolishly rash behavior."

_'You don't __sound __sorry at all.' _Naruto noted. _'More like you were trained to say things like that in these kinds of situations.'_

"It's okay," The blonde said instead. "Just keep his nasty tongue quiet, or I might have to cut it off."

She grinned wickedly as Kankuro paled even more, licking her bottom lip threateningly as her hand ghosted over her tanto's hilt.

She didn't actually mean it, as Kankuro hadn't done anything too heinous to force her ire, but she had always been somewhat talented in the art of intimidation. The blonde inwardly frowned when something distinctly _mad _flashed behind Gaara's sea foam eyes.

"I will..." The redhead drawled flatly, "Keep that in mind."

"Lovely." Naruto bowed her head slightly, turning to leave. "We'll be seeing you when we see you. Ja ne."

Surprisingly, Sasuke moved to follow her, not seeming all that sore about her stealing his chance to look cool.

"Wait."

They stopped in their tracks.

"What are your names?"

"I'm Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke." The raven said, throwing a smarmy look over his shoulder.

"Uzumaki Naruto." The blonde muttered.

"Sabaku no Gaara." Gaara offered. "Are you to be competing in the Chunin Exams?"

"Pleasure." Naruto said, not really meaning it, and walking off. "And yeah, we are. Maybe we'll even be able to spill some blood."

Konohamaru, his two friends, and Sakura scurried after her.

Sasuke went in the opposite direction, towards home. The pinkette was too shaken to beg him for a date at the moment, and the Uchiha was going to take full advantage of that.

The blonde didn't have to be facing the redhead to know her last statement brought his dead eyes to life with bloodlust.

_'He's drowning in negativity and insanity.' _Naruto thought, her expression turning dark. _'And I know for a fact that I've never met that guy. So then why... why does he feel so familiar...?'_

* * *

Sasuke had just handed some dork named Rock Lee his ass in a fight.

Though, the Uchiha was anything but unscathed. Naruto hoped a few devastating kicks from the green clad boy would teach Sasuke that his arrogance would cost him his life someday,as the field was unkind. He should know that from experience. He needed to shape up. The blonde had warned him against fighting right before the exams, but really, when did that fool ever listen to her without getting a black eye first?

The trio of rookies reached room 301, surprised to find their Sensei standing in front of the door and waiting for them.

"Sensei!" Sakura exclaimed. "What're you doing here?"

"Oh, you mean me?" He questioned dumbly. "I'm just here to see you off and express how happy I am that you all made it."

"Why's that?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"Because!" The enigma chirped, eye smiling cheerfully. "All three of you needed to be here or else I'd have to turn you away."

Seeing that they didn't plan on blowing up at him yet, Kakashi continued.

"You see my cute little students, to compete in the Chunin Exams, you need three people in a squad."

Sakura's eye twitched in irritation.

"Don't you think you should've informed us of something so important _before __now_?"

"Nope!" Kakashi grinned.

"Why you useless sonofabitc-"

Naruto slapped her hand over the pinkette's furious mouth, smiling sheepishly as Sasuke shook his head silently.

"Well, thanks for seeing us off Sensei!" The blonde smiled. "Wish us luck, ne?"

"Hehe, yes, of course Naruto-chan." Kakashi chuckled and waved them off. "Good luck my cute little genin!"

Sasuke and Sakura silently fumed, Naruto just waving goodbye cheerfully, ushering her teammates through the door, and into a bland classroom with off white walls.

She knew that Kakashi had been testing them to see if Sakura had enough courage to show up on her own. Sasuke would've definitely pressured the pinkette into it if he'd known, even if it wouldn't have been intentional. Sakura only would've thought of the Uchiha's opinion of her. And that just simply wouldn't be okay.

_'Clever Sensei.' _Naruto thought appreciatively.

As soon as the door closed behind them, an ash blonde blur shot out of the crowd and attached itself to the Uchiha's back.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino squealed. "I missed you _so much! _I bet you missed me too, didn't you?"

Sasuke just scowled, trying to squirm away from her, but alas, it was futile.

Naruto snickered shamelessly at his misfortune.

"Get your muddy hooves away from my Sasuke-kun Ino-pig!" Sakura screamed. "He didn't miss your obese butt and never will because he has me! His future wife! _CHA_!"

"Why don't you go advertise your stupidity somewhere else Billboard-brow?!" Ino shot back. "And the only person you'll be marrying is a plastic surgeon! Maybe he could give you a forehead reduction!"

"Why _you-_"

Everyone then proceeded to ignore the reunion of the two banshees.

"Troublesome," The stringbean that was Shikamaru mumbled. "You guys are here too?"

"Nice to see you again, Shika-chan. It's been awhile." Naruto grinned. "We'll have to ditch training together some time."

"Yeah," Choji agreed, coming up behind the stringbean, munching on a bag of BBQ chips. "That'll be fun, don't you think, Shikamaru?"

"Troublesome." The Nara muttered.

"YAHOO!" A brash voice cheered. "Looks like the gang's all here!"

"Oh lookie, it's Kibbles." Naruto grumbled sardonically. "Yay."

Kiba walked up, a stoic Shino and blushing Hinata trailing behind him.

"Oh shut up Yankee-bitch, who asked you anyways?" Kiba snapped. Akamaru, who was sitting on his head, nipped at his partner's hood disapprovingly.

"Traitor!" Kiba sulked.

Naruto smirked, taking the offered chip from Choji with a small nod of thanks.

"The only female dog around here is you, Kibbles." Naruto said flippantly, crunching on her snack. "And what's it matter if anyone asked me if everyone was thinking it?"

This coaxed a few snickers out of even Sakura and Ino, who had miraculously stopped bickering.

"Why _you-_"

Naruto ignored the impending rant from the feral nin, turning to his teammates instead.

"What's up Hinata, Shino?" She asked cheerfully.

Hinata flushed in pleasant surprise, poking her fingertips together nervously.

"H-hello a-again N-N-Naruto-chan." The gentle Hyuga greeted.

"Hello Naruto." Shino said emotionlessly. "It has been quite some time."

"It sure has, hasn't it?" Naruto nodded soberly. "Your Sensei treating you well?"

"Indeed." Shino confirmed.

"DON'T IGNORE ME!" Kiba roared.

"Hey!" A glasses wearing dork with a silver ponytail interrupted.

He walked over, merging from within the crowd of genin to stride confidently over to the rookies and stand before them.

_'A bit confident there aren't you bub?' _Naruto wondered inwardly. _'Something about this clown already stinks...'_

"You rookies need to keep it down. You don't know what you're dealing with!"

"Says who?" Ino retorted, cocking her hip in a sassy manner.

"Kabuto Yakushi." The dork answered, pushing his round glasses up to his nose. "But really, you guys should try being more quiet. Everyone here is way stressed out for the Exams, and loud rookies aren't exactly be helping their mood."

At this, all the rookies looked around, faces becoming nervous as they noticed the death glares and waves of killing intent they were receiving from everyone in the room. Well, Naruto looked like she could care less, and Sasuke sent back glares that made some want to wet themselves.

"Because I'm such a nice guy, I'll be willing to gives my little juniors some information."

"Like what?" Kiba snarked.

Kabuto pulled out a deck of cards almost _too _quickly.

_'What's he so eager for?'_

"Like what?" He echoed cockily. "Like info on the competitors this year! I've been collecting data because this isn't my first time competing."

_'Yeah, competing. So why are you trying to help us in a contest? Technically we're enemies, even if we're from the same village. What's your game... Yakushi?'_

"So, you must be really experienced huh?" Sakura asked, drawing the blonde's attention back to the present, the pinkette's inner bookworm obviously and thoroughly interested in his information.

"Yeah, these are my ninja info cards. Ask me anything about anyone here and I'll have something on 'em."

"How much experience are we talking?" Shikamaru asked lazily. "This your second time?"

"No," The dork rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It's my seventh."

"Not very reliable then, are you?" Naruto drawled rudely, though, inwardly, she still wondered why he would go out of his way to give them information. He had nothing to gain from it. And yes, he could just be a nice guy, but something told Naruto the guy was a real snake.

The blonde pursed her lips when Sasuke brushed past her to stand before the dork.

"Don't count me out yet!" Kabuto said. "These Exams aren't a walk in the park, all the villages have great shinobi they send to the Exams. The only place I _wouldn't _worry about is Sound, because they're small, new, and not well known. So they can't really be that big of a deal."

Naruto noticed a trio of particularly dangerous looking nin with music notes on their hitai-ates balk indignantly as Kabuto began telling her peers how many teams each village sent to the Exams. Sasuke pulled her attention back to him by pointing at Kabuto's large deck of cards.

"You've got information on individuals in that deck, don't you?" The Uchiha asked.

"Yeah, what of it?" Kabuto responded.

"Tell me about Rock Lee, Sabaku no Gaara, and Uzumaki Naruto."

"You have their names?" Kabuto scoffed. "That's no challenge at all!"

Meanwhile, Naruto balked as the dork began sorting through his cards.

"What're you asking about me for you turd!?" Naruto hissed.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted. "Just wondering how far a loser like you has come this past year."

Naruto frowned, shoving her hands into her pockets to hide her tightening fist.

_'You dumbass!' _She raged. _'If this clown actually knows some worthy info, our enemies will have clues on my fighting style!'_

Well, the blonde supposed if the dork was about to say something she didn't like, she could always shut him up forcefully.

"Rock Lee: Genin of the Leaf for a year. Teammates: Neji Hyuga and Tenten. Says here he can't use chakra, so he relies heavily on taijutsu, but he is still a powerful forced to be reckoned with. Gaara no Sabaku: Genin of the Sand. Teammates: Sabaku no Temari, and Sabaku no Kankuro. Also... oh crap!"

"What? What!?" Kiba demanded eagerly.

"Says here he's returned from every one of his missions without a _single _scratch! And they were all above C rank!"

"Nani!?" Ino and Sakura yelped.

"Intriguing..." Shino muttered.

Shikamaru muttered 'troublesome', yet, nodded in agreement.

"Hn." Sasuke said. "Sounds interesting."

_'I know there's something more to that Gaara kid... just like there's something more to Kabuto. But... __what__?' _Naruto thought. _'__Why __was he never injured? Why are his teammates petrified of him? And who the hell is Kabuto Yakushi really?'_

"Now, calm down you guys," Kabuto placated. "I'm sure none of you will have to face him. And if you do, you can always forfeit."

"That's rich coming from a guy who failed seven times." Naruto nearly spat.

"Meh." Kabuto shrugged, though, Naruto sensed his irritation and slight anger. "I told you, these Exams are no joke."

"Che." The blonde huffed.

"Now, Naruto Uzumaki..." Kabuto drawled, catching _all _of the rookie's attention. "Genin of the Leaf. Teammates: Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno. Well versed in seals... and, curiously, she is proficient in the Uchiha kenjutsu style. Said to have been taught by the infamous Shunshin no Shisui himself!"

The blonde's heart stuttered. Pain filled her to the brim, yet her face fell blank.

Naruto's eyes dulled to murky blues, forced to remember that name, and who that person was to her. She was too ensnared by the memories suddenly bombarding her brain to notice how pale Sasuke had suddenly gone. Or when her body began to move.

Shisui smiling cheekily at her...

Stealing her ramen...

Laughing at a corny joke...

Buying her pants...

Teasing her about her bad mouth...

Teaching her to wield a tanto...

Telling her he loved her...

And then... Shisui lying at her feet, his eyes torn from their sockets... life stolen from his beautiful face... Naruto realizing she'd _never _see his eyes bright with life... Or, his lips tilting in a smile just for _her...!_

"-ruto... Naruto,_ NO!_"

The blonde blinked, coming back to herself marginally, and into a bout of confusion. Her dull eyes refocused slightly, widening when they took in Kabuto's curiously blue face. His eyes were rolling around in their sockets, the boy looking one short moment of passing out.

_'The fuck is wrong with him?' _She wondered.

"Naruto stop it! You'll kill him!"

Sasuke...?

Had he been calling her? What would make her little brother sound so distressed?

"Naruto please let him go!" Sakura nearly sobbed, yanking at Naruto's wrist desperately.

Let him...

Let him go?

Wait. _What?_

_'No... no! It can't be...!'_

Naruto inwardly recoiled, finally realizing that she had her hands wrapped around Kabuto's throat. And that she was strangling him with everything she had. The blonde quickly released the neck in her grasp, and shoved the glasses clad boy away from her. The blonde felt bile slowly rising in her throat. She swallowed it.

_'What had I... What had I been about to do!?' _She thought, horrified. _'No... I __know __what I was about to do...'_

Naruto watched numbly as Kabuto took huge desperate gulps of air, nearly choking on it as he sputtered. An ugly blue-black bruise in the shape of her hands was already blooming across the older genin's throat.

_'What...? What the fuck is __wrong __with me?! I was about to break his neck! I would've __crushed __his windpipe!'_

Naruto deftly caught the wrist belonging to the hand that attempted to slap her.

She blinked rapidly, staring at Sakura's distressed face.

"D-" The blonde swallowed as her voice broke, and tried again. "Don't touch me. I stopped. Just... don't _touch _me."

_'I'm afraid that I'll break you.'_

The blonde dropped Sakura's wrist. Some part of her far away telling her Sakura had only been trying to help. That she had been attempting to smack some sense into the blonde.

_'I'd probably try to kill her too if she did manage to hit me...'_

Naruto knew. She knew she wasn't in a stable state of mind at the moment. But all sensible thoughts ceased abruptly. More images suddenly began flooding her brain. Filling her skull with the past, to torment her.

"Whoa!" Kabuto hacked. "That's _quite _a grip you got there... and that speed! I didn't even see you _move!_"

Naruto blinked some more, trying to ignore the image of a man's dark eyes widening behind his mask as she tore out his tongue. She tried to ignore the sound of his helpless gurgling as he choked on his own blood, unable to scream as the seal she created decomposed his flesh and absorbed all of his chakra, until he was nothing but a lifeless husk of skin.

She tried to ignore the thick metallic scent of blood, and the taste of it on her lips from when it sprayed across her face as she beheaded his defenseless partner. She tried to ignore the sight of Shisui's body disappearing into the seal. And she tried to ignore that she was reliving the realization that Shisui was never going to smile at her again.

But that was just the thing, wasn't it? Naruto whimpered quietly under her breath. She _tried. _

It didn't work.

A sound ninja used the commotion to attack Kabuto, cracking his glasses and threatening him to keep his mouth shut about Sound nin in the future.

"Alright maggots!" A rumbling voice boomed, a plume of smoke revealing a huge bear-like man with a bandana at the front of the classroom.

"Nobody fights unless I say so! You got that? Or you can kiss the Exams goodbye and take your sorry asses home!"

"Gomen ne," The bandaged Sound nin that attacked Kabuto shrugged. "Guess I just got a bit excited."

"Well, don't let it happen again, punk." The bear man growled. "Or _else_."

The rookies shaped up at his dangerous tone, save of Sasuke, who couldn't pull his eyes away from the zombie that was Naruto. And Sakura, who kept shooting the blonde weary and panicked glances.

"As of right now, the first test of the Chunin Exams has begun. And I am your proctor, Morino Ibiki. Pleased to fuckin' meet ya. Now take a seat maggots!"

No one dared to oppose the intimidating man, all rushing to get to a seat.

Naruto shambled absently after everyone. She continuously wiped her hands against her pants, trying to rid them of the feeling of being soaked in blood.


	19. Trouble, Chunin Exams

**REVIEW RESPONSES:**

**Shazzellim: Thanks! Your reviews always make me smile like a total dork! I thought for like five minutes for an excuse for Kashi-chan to use that no one else used already. Viagra was like gold. :D**

**Silver-eyedLadyofDarkness: I don't think anyone likes Kabuto. Lol. But, I tried to answer all of your questions in this chapter, and if I didn't, I will in the ones to come.**

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. **

* * *

Murmur took a deep breath, and exhaled. Her blue eyes watched the images slowly sliding past her at every turn. She was in a sort of limbo, if you will. Her body was floating, drifting with no real destination through the air in the dimension of Naruto's memories.

On either side of Murmur, above and below, were giant film like ribbons. They were rolling, showing the experiences of Naruto's past through the blonde's very own perspective. Murmur had been drifting ever so slowly through the place of Naruto's memories, it having took a month and a few days for her to reach more recent events. Murmur's wide eyes studied every window leading into the past with rapt attention. She was still floating, but had ceased her drifting. The memories she was studying at the moment were of Shisui teaching Naruto to wield a tanto.

The six year old had earlier felt a pull from Naruto's side of their shared psych. Naruto was distressed, something outside forcing her to fall into a state dangerously close to catatonic. Murmur had began panicking when a long film of memories rushed past her, and back to the front of Naruto's mind. They were all revolving around the death of Shisui, and the awful things Naruto had done to seal his body away.

Murmur would've rushed right back to the front of Naruto's mind to stabilize her thought process. But, she told Naruto she would investigate her memories to find out what could possibly be invading the Kyuubi's seal.

So it would be done.

Lately, Murmur had been feeling fainter and fainter, so she knew she and Naruto would be becoming one again soon. She decided to stay in Naruto's memories and trust in her other half. Naruto swore she would never forget her humanity. And Murmur knew, even being as jaded as Naruto was, if she gave it, she never broke her word. That was one of the few good things she had never locked away when Murmur had been created.

Naruto didn't need her humanity to specifically point out when she was lying to herself or what was right and wrong anymore. The blonde recognized those things on her own.

_"She will be fine. She's strong." _Murmur whispered.

With that in mind, the six year old bit her stitched lips, searching for the memory after Naruto stopped her tanto training with Shisui.

Even though she still felt Naruto was hopelessly distressed, she would not leave.

The six year old was close to the truth.

She could _feel _it.

* * *

Naruto sat next to Hinata in room 301. Her peers and fellow Chunin hopefuls worked diligently all around her, or were called out for being caught cheating.

Naruto paid no attention to any of the things around her. She stared straight ahead, trying to keep herself from grimacing at the phantom feeling of sticky blood dripping from her fingertips. She knew that blood was gone. Because she remembered clearly washing her hands raw after she returned home from sealing Shisui away.

But that knowledge didn't help her.

Naruto's eye twitched when she felt the same red liquid dribble down her face, and off her chin. She heard the sound of her tanto slicing through bone as she took the ROOT nin's head over, and over, and _over _again. She felt his partner's warm tongue pinched between her fingers, slick with saliva. And she heard him choke on his screams as she ripped it from his face.

She watched the oldest Demon Brother's eyes drain of all life, and red pool around his bisected corpse.

Her stomach rolled at the sickeningly thick metallic scent invading her nose, and sliding past the back of her throat.

Just as the blonde thought she would break, the sound of shattering glass caused her to snap to attention, tanto already drawn and body tensed to vault her over the desk she sat behind at any moment.

Naruto blinked, watching as her peers calmed down and stopped cheering to gawk at the front if the room. Apparently, they had all passed.

Naruto hadn't even _glanced _at her test paper.

The blonde absently watched with the rest of the remaining Chunin hopefuls as a purple haired woman dressed in skimpy mesh armor and a tan trench coat gestured grandly. The woman grinned, informing them it wasn't time to celebrate just yet.

"Anko..." Ibiki deadpanned, pinching the bridge of his nose irritably. "You're early. _Again."_

Anko had the decency to flush.

She rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment, before perking up, eyes searching the room curiously.

"Ibiki, you passed _this _many teams!? You're going soft!"

Ibiki just sighed, obviously well acquainted with Anko's questionable mood swings.

"Maybe we just have a good batch of ninja this year." The bear man offered.

"Whatever!" Anko grinned savagely. "These numbers will be halved by the time I'm done with 'em!"

Some gulped at the manic gleam in the woman's pupiless hazel eyes.

Naruto stared up at the banner pinned to the blackboard with kunai above Anko. It read: _The sexy and single second Exam Proctor! Anko Mitarashi!_

"Follow me maggots!" Anko exclaimed melodramatically. "Follow me to the place of your imminent deat- I-I _mean... _thesecond Exam stage!"

Naruto discretely slid her tanto back into it's sheath, and stood up to follow her nervous peers to their next Exam.

_'I've got to get my head in the game... the first Exam was scheduled to be one hour. How could I have been spacing out for __**that**__ long?'_

Naruto worried her bottom lip.

_'I can't afford to let that happen again.'_

* * *

Team Seven stood outside The Forest of Death. Naruto and Sasuke immediately were put at a huge advantage. Sakura looked about ready to wet herself.

The blonde would admit, the first time Shisui took her to the place, she had been thoroughly intimidated. But now? At thirteen damn near fourteen? She knew the place like the back of her hand. It was home away from home.

"Alright maggots, this is my personal playground! Leaf nin call it the Forest of Death!" Anko announced. "You're gonna spend five days in this treasure trove of hazards until you reach it's center. Where there is a tower. But, before you can go into the tower, you need two scrolls. One Heaven, and one Earth. Each squad will get one scroll."

"Wait!" Ino blurted. "Where do we get the other one?"

"Where do you _think_ genius?" Anko snarled. "Screw another team over and take theirs! Hell, you can even kill 'em if you want."

Needless to say, many of the genin paled as the more bloodthirsty contestants leered insidiously.

"K-k-k-_kill_?" Sakura whimpered.

Sasuke glared. But, if you knew him well enough, you'd see the excited gleam at the new challenge in his ebony eyes.

"And don't open the scrolls in the forest brats. Or _else_." The purple haired woman warned.

"Why not?" Kiba snarked, quickly deflating at the skimpily clad woman's growing evil smile.

"Why don't you open them and find out?" She baited.

"N-no thanks..." The feral nin muttered.

Shino shook his head mutely.

"So yeah, sign these waivers so your families can't sue us if you end up a mutilated corpse by the end of this." Anko said nonchalantly.

A Chunin helper poofed into existence at her side and grabbed the papers, and then began passing them around.

Naruto wiped her hands against her pants and shivered, eye twitching as she continuously heard the sound of a man choking on his own blood.

Even being in the distracted, half nightmarish state she was in, the blonde's shinobi skills alerted her of danger a second before it even happened.

She tilted her head, a kunai whizzing by the left side of her face immediately after. The result was a small slit that shortly began weeping blood.

She tensed as a pair of large breast pressed into her back, a body draped over her back, and smooth, strong arms wound around her neck in an almost strangling hold.

Soft lips brushed the blonde's ear, painfully reminding her of when Shisui used to hold her.

_'But it's not Shisui. Shisui's dead.' _The blonde thought distractedly.

_'I sealed his body. I sealed him with the flesh of two men... I __know __that I did... And there was blood...'_

Naruto's eye twitched again.

_'So much blood...' _Her hands twitched. She wiped them off again. They dripped blood. She wiped.

And she wiped.

And she wiped them again.

They didn't feel clean.

They felt dirty. Dirty with blood.

Naruto was dirty.

"You're not ignoring my announcements are you rookie?" Anko drawled dangerously. "What? Is Anko-chan not interesting enough for you to even _glance _at?"

Naruto's cut seeped red. It dripped down her face, just like... _'Like when I cut his head off... and he painted me with blood...'_

"Get off her." Sasuke growled.

"Hoh?" Anko smirked, Naruto could feel it, against her ear. Lips brushing her ear.

_'Shisui...'_

"Am I bothering the little Uchiha?" Anko taunted. "What? Is she your girlfriend or something?"

"No." Sasuke gritted. "Just. Let. Her. _Go._"

"Oh? So she's _not _your girlfriend? Well, I guess you won't mind if I do _this _will you?"

Naruto shivered as a slick tongue licked the blood from her cheek, and to everyone's disgust, Anko hummed in pleasure at the taste. One of the arms snaked from around Naruto's shoulders, a devious hand ghosting down her flat stomach, teasing the hem of her pants to-

Anko yanked her hand away as Sasuke launched a shuriken at her offending appendage. The projectile harmlessly lodged into the grass at Anko's right.

"Temper temper Uchiha." Anko snickered.

Sasuke fumed, his hand reaching into his pouch for another weapon, only to stop when someone he didn't know slinked over to them.

Even more repulsive to Anko's action, this person was from Grass, a pale young woman that had an abnormally long tongue that fell nearly a foot from her lips. Wrapped in it, was Anko's kunai.

"What do you think you're doing?" Anko asked, casually disentangling herself from Naruto.

"I'm just returning this to you." The Grass genin hissed.

"Thanks," Anko said flatly, taking the spit coated kunai and slipping it into a hidden pocket in her coat.

"But," The purple haired woman began. "Don't _ever_ just walk up to me with that thing hanging out. _Especially _if it's armed. I'm sure you don't want to lose your tongue, _genin._"

"I'm sorry." The Grass genin said, hissing voice completely unapologetic. "I'll try and keep that in mind."

Lose your tongue...

_'Like when I tore out that ROOT nin's tongue...'_

"Come on Naruto." Sasuke growled, storming over to the bungalow that was set up to the left of the forest gate's entrances. He retrieved their scroll, which was Earth, and Sakura hid it in her pouch, as no one would suspect she was the one who had it.

"Whatever Uchiha!" Anko called after him as he went to stand in front of gate seven. "She's kind of airheaded anyways!"

Naruto shuffled after her teammates, unaware of the eyes of her fellow rookies following her worriedly.

They may have butted heads, but they grew up together. They were classmates that watched each other grow. They may not have known Naruto that well, but even they knew something was terribly wrong with her at the moment.

"'Kay, everyone get ready, get set, g-"

"WAIT!"

"Ugh." Anko huffed. _"What?"_

"What are we gonna do for food!?"

Two guesses who that was.

"It's a forest kid, there's shit to eat!" The purple haired woman snapped. "There's also huge mutated things in there to eat _you._"

This was followed by a few wary looks being passed around between Chunin hopefuls.

Anko glared, looking around to see if anyone else would dare interrupt her. No one did.

She grinned.

"Five days maggots! No exceptions! And absolutely _no_ forfeits!"

Shikamaru sighed explosively.

"Oh, and one last piece of advice." Anko smirked darkly. "Don't die."

When she noticed she had intimidated quite a few severely, she threw her arms open widely.

"Now _go!"_

The gates swung open.

The game was on.

* * *

Sasuke wasn't a nervous kind of guy.

He didn't particularly like anything. And he disliked many things. But one of the things he _despised _was to see Naruto in pain. He knew to outsiders it looked like they hated each other's guts, but that wasn't true. Actually, it couldn't be further from the truth.

Sasuke knew he never actually said he cared about Naruto. But he did. He didn't _like _Naruto. He loved her. That was something he was barely brave enough to admit to himself. She was his sister. She was bossy, violent, foul mouthed, and a dobe, but she was _his _dobe. She annoyed him to no end, and he really disliked that she was always finding reasons to hit him. But who ever said you had to like someone to love them? Their relationship was kind of complicated. Period. Though, Sasuke knew Naruto would only ever have his well being at heart.

That's why, seeing the girl who had become his family acting distant, someone so confident in her voice quiet and _anxious, _put his stomach in knots. The Uchiha was worried.

Something was terribly wrong with Naruto.

The blonde was one of the fastest people Sasuke knew, nearly as fast as Shisui had been. So, there was no reason for that wretch Anko to have been able to get a hold of Naruto. But she had... which meant Naruto was hopelessly distracted.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder, Sakura silently sending fretting looks at the vacant eyed blonde shambling after her.

Sasuke wasn't an idiot. He knew Naruto and Shisui had been in love. And he knew what that buffoon Kabuto said had triggered what ever _this _was. Not many people knew the depth of Shisui and Naruto's relationship. Only he, The Third, and... that _traitor__._

Sasuke shook his head, batting away the images of his family's corpses littering the ground.

This wasn't about that, he berated himself. This was about passing the Exams and getting stronger. Experience. This was about getting out of this place as soon as possible to get Naruto the desperate help she so obviously needed.

"Naruto...?" Sakura surprised the Uchiha by breaking the tense silence.

Naruto looked up at the sound of her name, but it was sluggish, distracted. The blonde kept wiping her hands, and they quaked slightly as she did so. She just kept wiping them off. As if she was trying to wipe away something filthy. But there was nothing there.

There was nothing.

_'Kami Naruto... what's wrong with you?'_

Naruto stared unblinkingly at the pinkette, her left eye twitched slightly, both of her azure blues cloudy. It was as if she was dreaming, but half of her was awake.

It wasn't a dream that was making her this way though, was it? Sasuke thought grimly.

It was a nightmare.

"Naruto... we _know _you're not okay," Sakura said, voice quivering. "You've been like this since that guy Kabuto..."

The Uchiha felt a new respect for the pinkette when her voice trailed off uncertainly, but she swallowed and plowed forward anyway.

"Why did you attack him, Naruto?" Sakura asked. "Who was that person Kabuto mentioned? Is that why it's like you're not even here, even though you're standing right in front of me? Because Kabuto said his name?"

Naruto finally reached up one of her hands and wiped under her twitching eye.

"I've got to pee." Naruto stated blankly.

She turned and shuffled into the cover of some bushes and trees to her left.

Sakura gawked.

She turned to Sasuke, who shrugged helplessly.

"What do we do Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"Get a scroll so we can leave this damn forest."

* * *

Sakura chewed on her bottom lip nervously, Naruto had been gone for nearly ten minutes. Surely it didn't take that long to pee?

_**Unless she drank a whole water tower, CHA! **_Inner Sakura huffed.

_'Now's really not the time to joke around. I'm honestly worried.' _Sakura thought.

_**Then go check on her genius.**_

Sakura nodded resolutely, pushing herself to her feet in the clearing she and Sasuke sat in.

Sasuke shot her a questioning look, but before Sakura could explain herself, the sound of branches snapping and being parted made both rookies move to draw kunai.

Sakura nearly relaxed when she saw it was her blonde teammate.

"Sorry I took so long." Naruto said sheepishly. "But you know what they say, when nature calls..."

Sakura's mint eyes narrowed.

"Who the hell are you?" The pinkette growled.

If she learned anything about the blonde during their time as teammates, she never apologized unless she was _way _out of line. And that was rare. Because even with her quick temper and bad mouth, Sakura noticed Naruto wasn't an unkind person. They weren't friends, but Sakura knew Naruto was the one who got Sasuke to help with her training. And for that, Sakura was grateful.

Despite all that, Naruto wasn't even acting like herself at the moment. So _why _would she suddenly be all cheerful when she had looked one inch of collapsing mentally ten minutes ago?

Sasuke glared, left hand inching into his kunai pouch.

Naruto's face twisted into an ugly sneer like grin, a masculine voice that had no business coming from her lips taunted them.

"So you saw through my disguise." It wasn't a question.

"Where's our teammate?" Sasuke snarled.

There was a poof of smoke, Naruto's form was swallowed by it, when it cleared, it revealed a Rain nin in a tan stitched body suit, face wearing a rebreather.

"My teammates are already probably finishing up their fun with her." The Rain nin said, his dark eyes gleaming with sick mirth, voice distorted by his face gear. "And after I'm done killing you two losers for your scroll, I'll be joining them in the fun. That teammate of yours is quite... _pretty._"

Sakura paled at the implications, suddenly feeling faint, her stomach rolling at the positively lecherous look on the Rain nin's face.

"You sonofabitch!" Sasuke roared, shooting at the Rain nin, sharingan flaring to life.

The Rain nin didn't know what hit him.

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**!"

Ashes and blackened bone matter speckled the forest grass.

Sakura's mint eyes widened to saucers. She stared into the pitiful, smoking pile of human ashes, her eyes stinging at the stench of burned flesh and heavy smoke.

Sasuke's flame had been so ferocious, so pumped full of angry chakra, that it had been _blue._

_'I-it's so easy for them to kill...' _The pinkette thought shakily, remembering when she watched Naruto cut one of the Demon Brothers in two.

_'Am I weak or are they just... __monsters__?'_

The pinkette flinched as the real Naruto wondered back into the clearing, her stomach dropped to her knees at the sight of the blonde splattered in blood.

"They made me do it..." She was muttering, blank eyes unseeing. "They tried to grab me... they made me do it..."

Sakura shivered, Naruto's tanto was clenched in her right hand, it's blade dripping red into the grass, and in her other hand, a Heaven scroll.

Sakura gulped, watching mutely as Sasuke wordlessly approached Naruto. The Uchiha coaxed the short sword out of the blonde's grasp with a gentleness Sakura didn't know him capable of. He flicked the red from the blade expertly, and slid it away in Naruto's sheath for her. Sakura began wringing her hands, trying to distract herself from how badly they had began shaking.

The pinkette would be lying through her teeth if she said the close moments Naruto and Sasuke sometimes shared didn't bother her. Sakura knew Naruto didn't love Sasuke the way she did, and nor he to the blonde, but it still bothered her. Even if there was nothing romantic between the two, Sasuke was way more accepting of Naruto's presence then her own.

Sakura knew they were something of childhood friends, and the pinkette thought she remembered something distant about Naruto dating an Uchiha when she was like, ten, but after Sasuke and Naruto began hanging out at lunch and after school in the Academy, Sakura hadn't seen much of them. So the pinkette had no idea if Naruto actually dated an Uchiha or if it had just been the tasteless gossip of jealous fangirls that wanted to slander Naruto (who assumed she was dating Sasuke at the same time).

They were close, even if it was convoluted. Sakura could see that.

The pinkette numbly watched Sasuke slip his arm under Naruto's knees, the other around her back, and heft her effortlessly into his arms. It was an odd sight, as the blonde was noticeably taller than the Uchiha.

Sakura walked over to them, unsettled by Naruto's vacant eyes staring skyward. Taking the blood slicked Heaven scroll out of Naruto's hand, Sakura grimaced, and slipped that too, in the pouch at her waist.

"We need a password." Sasuke stated. "If we get separated, we'll know when its actually us instead of someone trying to trick us. In the state she's in now... we'll know it's Naruto just by looking at her."

"O-okay..." Sakura mumbled. "So... what's the password?"

Sasuke looked grim, gazing into Naruto's blues, before looking into the sky as if he could see what she was seeing behind her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura prompted uncertainly.

Sasuke glared, quickly taking to the trees and forcing Sakura to follow.

"It's, 'We have to succeed'."

* * *

Sasuke grew tired after traveling a half hour non stop carrying his blonde teammate. He set her down, leaning her back against the huge trunk of one of the forest's trees. Sakura arrived behind him a moment later, huffing and wiping the sweat at her brow with her forearm.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked. "Is Naruto any better?"

Sasuke turned to her, opening his mouth to answer, only to have to shield his eyes as a massive gust of wind shook the treetops.

Thinking quick, the Uchiha and Haruno used chakra to stick to the branch they stood on.

The same could not be said for Naruto.

* * *

Naruto soared through the air, her body on autopilot, curling into a nimble ball, pumping chakra into her feet as she speedily flew towards a tree trunk.

The blonde flipped, uncurling and sticking sideways to the tree that had previously would have been her death. Her eyes flashed when her senses flickered, and she shot to the next tree, the one she had been standing on reduced to huge splinters by the flick of a tail.

Naruto dropped to the ground, and ran to the center of the clearing, whirling around, tanto drawn to face her foe.

When she gazed into the giant snake eyes of the behemoth anaconda looming over her, drowning her in it's shadow, she looked back down at her tanto.

"This isn't gonna work." She stated blankly.

The blonde's hand whispered across the hilt of the katana she still wore diagonally across her back.

"I'm gonna kill you..." Naruto murmured. "Just like those Rain ninja... I'll cut you to pieces..."

The snake hissed menacingly, diving down and promptly swallowing Naruto whole.

* * *

Murmur's wide blue eyes were wide with surprise.

_"How could I not have realized it before?" _She questioned herself. _"The answer was always right there! Why wasn't this the first thing I thought of when I noticed something invading the seal? Hell, why hadn't Naruto thought of it too?"_

Murmur sped through Naruto's memories, back towards the front of her psych.

The images surrounding the young blonde slowly faded away to a vast room of white, and suddenly, there was substance beneath Murmur's bare feet. Her footsteps echoed thunderously in the room of white, a worn, brown door slowly materializing out of the endless white.

Murmur hurried, grasping the almost lifelike in it's warmth gold knob. The six year old twisted the knob, and threw the door open. She rushed out, and into the gray twisting hallways of Naruto's mindscape. Getting lost more times than she wanted to admit, Murmur finally reached a familiar orange-gold light at the end of the dark hallways.

Murmurs feet splashed in the cesspool waters, stumbling into the very center of Naruto's mind, directly before the Kyuubi's cage.

And she froze.

Murmur fell to her knees, the dirty waters reaching past her belly button.

Murmur stared up, watching in horror as rubble fell from the ceiling, and cracks traveled up the walls, threatening to gave way under some unseen pressure and force.

_"Naruto... what's happening!?" _ The six year old croaked.

She quickly decided what she had to do.

_"Furball you have to help me, PLEASE!" _Her eyes stung at the utter devastation that was Naruto and her mind.

**"I **_**told **_**you not to refer to me in such a shameful manner you insignificant little wretch!" **

Something massive slammed against the bars, causing rubble to rain down from the damaged ceiling and into the murky water. The orange-gold light illuminating the Kyuubi's burnt orange fur. He snarled at the small child, crimson eyes livid, though, his fearsome express went solemn as he noticed the state Murmur was in.

Tears flowed out of her eyes, and she flinched when a deep growl sent ripples through the waters.

**"Why do your eyes leak, little wretch?" **The fox rumbled.

_"Naruto's mind is collapsing! And I don't know what to do!" _She wailed. _"Do you know what's wrong? Please tell me if you do!"_

The silence was all the confirmation the six year old needed.

_"Please tell me what's happening! I'll do anything." _Murmur pleaded.

The Kyuubi's silence became contemplative. And then he nodded his huge head in agreement.

**"Memories child... they are destroying your creator from the inside out."**

Murmur's stomach did backflips, and she began to panic, knowing she shouldn't have left Naruto alone for so long, but also realizing she had to. For both of their sakes.

"_B-but... why? What happened!?" _The six year old cried.

**Your creator is... in a state of unending shock, if you will. **The Kyuubi said.

"_Why? What's wrong with her?_"

**"She was reminded of the past unexpectedly, and now is in shock, remembering her worst memories over and over again."**

_"What do I do to fix it?" _Murmur nearly demanded.

The fox stared at the desperate little girl down his nose for a long moment.

He answered.

**"She needs something to literally shock her out of her shock."**

Murmur's tears spilled down her face, but this news allowed her to... hope. Hope that she could mend Naruto's dangerously close to broken mind.

_"I know just the news for this." _She thought aloud.

Just her luck, she had found the most shocking, yet obvious news only minutes before.

Things... things would be okay...

**"I see... though, you realize for my assistance..." **Kyuubi left her to fill in the blanks.

_"Yes, I know. You want to talk to Naruto when you want. I won't block your voice from her anymore as long as your intent isn't bad." _Murmur vowed.

Murmur and Kyuubi were not friends. They had shared a cage for many years, locked away in the dark with no one to hear them. No one wanting to acknowledge that they were even there. Kyuubi filled with hatred, and Murmur filled with loneliness. Murmur was the essence of Naruto's humanity, all the things in the blonde that were good. So, she did not have the capacity to hate. She could not comprehend it. Hatred, anger, scorn... Murmur were incapable of feeling such things.

She had surprised the great Kyuubi no Kitsune when she had first been created, and he asked if she was a puny human that hated him too, and informed him that no. No she did not hate him. Since then, the fox had tolerated her presence without much fuss. He did dislike her though, but then again, he disliked everything as far as Murmur knew.

She didn't hate the fox, she didn't even block his voice from Naruto consciously. It was Murmur's innocence. She instinctively pushed the fox away. Because he was filled with 'bad'. But, the six year old also had never rushed to pull down the blocks on her and Naruto's shared psych.

Though now, she had given her word.

That was something she would not break.

**"Very well child... speak to your creator. Fix this mind, and I will wait for the meeting with my jailor." **The Kyuubi's snarling mouth stretched into a monstrous parody of a grin.

Murmur hoped she hadn't just done something stupid.


	20. Sealing, Chunin Exams

**Zmartknight: No I'm sorry! Don't cry! T^T And that tenant? *smirks* You'd like to know, wouldn't you? Nah I'm kidding. I'll reveal that later. Pinky promise. ;)**

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image.**

* * *

_Naruto...!_

Blue eyes snapped open, greeted by a impenetrable darkness.

She couldn't move.

Her arms were pinned by her sides by a constricting force, a force that was closing in on her from all sides.

It was wet.

Her person was drenched.

It was warm, unpleasantly so.

It was slimy, and thick.

It smelled foul, like vomit.

Naruto blinked.

She was being digested.

By a giant snake.

_'Fuck.'_

_Naruto! Naruto can you hear me? _

Naruto blinked again. That voice... it sounded distressed. Had that voice... had it been calling her?

_Naruto are you okay? Can you hear me? It's Murmur! Please say something. Anything! _

Murmur...

Blue eyes widened in the humid dark.

_'Murmur...!'_

_Yes! Yes Naruto it's me! I'm back. _The six year old nearly sobbed.

_'What took you so long?' _Naruto thought weakly. _'I can't think straight... and I'm dreaming terrible things... even with my eyes open. Murmur... I'm scared.'_

_I'm so sorry Naruto. I really really am. But, I know how to fix this. _Murmur said mournfully.

_'How?' _Naruto asked miserably.

_I know what's in the seal._

_'What? What does that have to do with anything? Murmur, I'm going crazy! That's not going to help me!' _The blonde thought frantically.

_I know you feel like that. But really, it'll help. I'm sure of it! _The six year old said firmly. _You'll still need to get professional help. But I know what I have to tell you will snap you out of this funk you're in. But first-_

_'Get outta this snake.' _The blonde finished.

_Took the words right out of my mouth. _

Naruto let go of her tanto's hilt just long enough to force her arms closer to form the ram handseal.

"**Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu**!"

* * *

The giant snake was slithering casually along, satisfied with the meal it's master had just gifted to it. It's stomach was full, and the snake was having a generally good day. That is, until it felt it's stomach begin to slowly expand.

Yellow eyes bugged out.

The snake hissed in despair, its scales stretching to impossible widths, and it's body bulged, just getting bigger and bigger and _bigger_ until-

_BOOM!_

Violet blood and snake bits rained down upon the forest's grassy clearing, some soaking the newly freed blonde that stood in the very center of the gory chaos. Her clones had dispersed the moment the snake exploded, the remaining smoke rising into the air before fading away.

_Okay, about the seal... _Murmur began.

_'No time. Tell me later, okay?'_

_But..._

_'Later.' _Naruto said firmly.

_Okay... _The six year old agreed uncertainly.

The blonde looked around.

"I just remembered..." Naruto murmured. "Where's Sasuke and Sakura?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed to slits, she focused her senses, but found such actions were unnecessary.

A moment later, a massive killing intent washed over her from afar. It seemed to wilt the surrounding vegetation, despairing the green from even wanting to live.

It was nearly inhuman. It was malice amplified. It was... pure _evil._

Naruto's heart stuttered in unexplainable fear.

"Sasuke...!" She choked.

The blonde ceased all thoughts, taking to the trees so fast she left nothing but a yellow streak in her wake.

Naruto focused on finding her brother.

She would not lose another one to this cursed village.

* * *

When the violent, unnatural winds stopped, Sasuke dropped his arms to his sides, not remembering when he had raised them to shield his face. He felt Sakura's chakra at his side, slightly behind him, and turned around to check on Naruto.

His skin lost all color at the empty spot that should've occupied his blonde teammate.

"Kukukuku~"

Sasuke shivered at the unsettling sound of someone chuckling. Their voice gave him the shivers, the malevolent sound resonating from around the surrounding forest.

"W-who's there?" Sakura stuttered, attempting to seem strong.

She had a kunai drawn, both hands wrapped around the handle, arms pulled near her chest and blade point facing outwards, ready to pierce her unseen foe. Her green eyes darted this way and that. Searching.

Her Uchiha teammate stood, shoulders tensed, ears straining, and sweat lining his brow.

_'There...!'_

Sasuke's sharingan flashed, and he lept back, just as a swarm of snakes slammed into the branch from above. Sakura flinched when Sasuke landed nearly on top of her, and scrambled back to give him more space.

Sasuke scowled, watching as the snakes hissed furiously, melting into useless blobs of mud and spilling down the sides of the branch.

"Oh my, you're _quite_ skilled to have sensed me, Sasuke-kun." A vaguely familiar voice rasped. "Even if it was at the last possible second."

_'You...' _Sasuke thought accusingly.

The Uchiha's red eyes narrowed as a woman jumped from the cover of higher branches, landing about ten feet away from the young duo.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura whispered urgently from behind. "That's the weird Grass ninja from earlier!"

"I know," The Uchiha growled, sharingan never leaving the deviously smirking woman. "Don't let your guard down. She's no joke."

"Mm." Sakura confirmed.

"What do you want from us?" Sasuke demanded. If all she wanted was their scroll, she would be attacking them right now. She wanted something else. Sasuke could _feel _it.

His enemy's smirk stretched to impossible widths, nearly reaching the corners of her deceptively kind brown eyes.

"Why so cold Sasuke-kun?" She rasped, hideous smile never leaving as she spoke. "I just want to play with you. The pink one is not even worth killing."

Sasuke noted Sakura's breath hitching behind him, and he backed up slowly, so he could stand in front of the pinkette.

He wouldn't let another psycho take someone from him.

Even if she kinda sucked.

"Alright then," The Uchiha drawled darkly. "Why have you come for me?"

"I told you," The woman crooned. "I want to play, so _lets."_

Sasuke shoved Sakura off the branch, she yelped, using chakra to stick to the underside of the wood while Sasuke flashed through a set of handseals, just as the ninja spewed a stream of mud from her lips, calling out: "**Earth Style: Mud Slide Jutsu**!"

"**Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu**!"

Flames roared to life from the Uchiha's mouth, colliding with the mud, crackling sounded off as the two elements met, filling the air with the smell of burning earth.

The mud turned to brick, parting on either side of the Uchiha's person as his flames forced it away from him. They fell to the forest floor, shattering to pieces.

Smoke polluted the air, but Sasuke's sharingan still predicted the attack that would fly at him from behind.

The young Uchiha whirled around, drawing a kunai, and bringing it up to block the tongue that whipped out towards his neck.

Disgusted, he released the metal as the slimey appendage snaked around the blade. The smoke began clearing, but Sasuke was already running through another set of handseals.

He took a deep breath, gathering chakra in his lungs, and shouted.

"**Fire Style: Burning Ash(1)**!"

Black smoldering matter spewed from the Uchiha's lips, the seemingly surprised Grass genin gaped, and then, she was engulfed by ashes.

She screamed.

He smirked.

Though, Sasuke's triumph was short lived, as the screams shifted to chuckles, and the chuckles to malicious guffaws.

The smoke cleared completely, and Sasuke's sharingan eyes nearly popped out of his head.

The grass ninja was nothing but a skeleton, flesh burned to blackened charred, webbed with cracks that split open, skin flaking off, and wounds gushing streams of boiling crimson. Her eye sockets were gaping black holes, steaming blood spilling out of them and down her ruined, scorched face.

The Uchiha's stomach rolled at the scent of burned flesh and hair, but he froze when the burned skeleton twitched.

The Grass nin's jaw fell open, and broke off, clattering to the branch at her feet.

"W-what the hell?" Sasuke whispered, sounding strangled.

He watched something slide up the back of the Grass nin's throat, and claw it's way to the front of her ruined mouth.

_'I-is that a...? Oh Kami help us...'_

Sasuke stood helpless as a white hand emerged from the woman's throat, followed by an entire arm, and a shoulder, and a _head. _

Sasuke absently noted Sakura walking on the underside of the tree branch, rounding it's circumference so that she was behind him again.

She was wrong to assume the fight was over.

That he had won.

Things had just gotten so much more _worse._

"Kukukuku~"

Sasuke shivered, a man's head slithering out of the Grass nin's mouth, his long black hair framing his deathly pale face, and his yellow snake eyes promising suffering.

The charred corpse he wore fell away from his body, like a snake shedding it's skin.

"Sasuke... what's happening?" Sakura whimpered.

He didn't answer.

He didn't know.

But he was scared.

Odious killing intent spilled out of the man's spindly form, causing Sakura to gasp and fall to her knees, tears pricking her eyes. She shook like a leaf in storm, fighting to stay conscious.

Sasuke heaved savagely, and vomited. But he wiped his mouth, and stood his ground, expression furious, and stubborn.

"Kukukuku, very good Sasuke-kun..." The man said in his drawling voice. "You're doing so much better than I expected. I'm very pleased."

"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke snarled, but even he heard how his voice wavered. Even he knew he was shaking.

"Me? Oh, I'm just a friend... My name is Orochimaru, and I want to give you power..."

"O-Orochimaru?" Sakura choked.

"Oh, so the pink one knows me?" The snake man smiled, but it made both the genin's skin crawl. "I didn't think that foolish old man of a Hokage would allow people to teach brats about me."

"Why would you want to give me power? I don't even know you!" The Uchiha growled.

"Orochimaru is one of the Legendary Sannin. The snake summoner. He's the village's biggest traitor," Sakura recited, almost robotically. "Right before Ita-"

"_Don't. _Speak that foul name." Sasuke warned.

The pinkette behind him recoiled at the absolute _loathing _in his voice.

"My, what beautiful eyes those are..." Orochimaru cooed creepily. "So full of hatred and bloodlust. It is... _riveting."_

"What the hell do you want?" Sasuke snapped, short patience fuze already burned out. "I'm done joking around. Tell me why someone like you is in the Chunin Exams, _traitor."_

"I want to see more your hatred Sasuke-kun. " Orochimaru hissed. "I want to help you surpass Itachi, so that you can someday kill him for what he's done to you."

Sasuke's mangekyou flared to life at the sound of that name, his brain forgetting all reason, and he rushed at the snake man with a cry of pure rage.

Orochimaru smirked, his neck stretched, shooting out to meet the Uchiha half way, fangs bared, glistening with saliva.

_Clang!_

Yellow eyes widened for the second time that day.

A feral vermillion red pair stared right back. Glaring.

"I don't _think_ so you fuckin' pedophile."

"Naruto!?" Sasuke exclaimed.

The Uchiha was kind of getting tired of the blonde always saving his ass. He hoped it wouldn't be a regular occurrence. Sasuke had enough shit to deal with. Inferiority complex, he could do without.

He gawked at the back of his blonde teammate. She had her feet spread apart, her trademark tanto in a reverse grip in her right hand, the blade lodged between Orochimaru's fangs, where he had bit down instead of into Sasuke.

"I won't let someone as filthy as you have my brother." The blonde spat.

She ripped her tanto to the left, forcefully slicing through the right side of the snake's mouth. He howled in pain, having no time to dodge as Naruto thrust her free palm into the the center of his chest.

"**Fuuinjutsu Style: Body Implosion**!"

An array of black seals stretched across his chest and to his abdomen, glowing blue from Naruto's chakra.

The blonde hopped back, not looking away as the snake began spasming uncontrollably in agony.

Clumps of liquid spilled out of his lips as the seal forced his insides to burst.

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

She watched the mud pour out of Orochimaru's mouth before he began melting into a puddle of it.

"Shit." The blonde huffed. "Fucking Earth clone!"

"Naruto!" Sakura cried, coming out of her shock.

It was too late.

A hand shot out of the mud puddle still left behind from Orochimaru's first jutsu. And Naruto was standing right in it.

Naruto's red eyes flickered to blue as the heel of the snake's hand slammed into her stomach. Vile, foreign chakra forced itself into her tenketsu, nearly blowing them out.

"**Five Pronged Seal**!"

Naruto grunted in pain, blood falling from her mouth as Orochimaru's seal sank into the flesh of her abdomen, and through her shirt.

The blonde coughed, red spilling down her chin as she felt most of her chakra lock up in her. The blonde took a deep breath. And endured the pain.

She took hold of Orochimaru's hand in a devastating grip, grinning with blood stained teeth at the surprise on his face. Only his torso had submerged from the mud. Naruto quickly slapped a stun tag against his forehead. He couldn't run.

"How?" He demanded. "I sealed your chakra! How are you still conscious you brat!?"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that I was a demon?" Naruto taunted.

She raised her tanto, smiling fondly when Sasuke pinned Orochimaru's other hand with a thrown kunai. Just in case.

"No matter what you do to me, you won't have Sasuke." Naruto swore.

She cut through flesh and bone, severing the snake's arm from the elbow down.

He screamed in outrage, blood spewing from his new stump, painting the blonde with gore.

Naruto threw the severed appendage over her shoulder, and her brother reduced it to ashes with a well placed fireball.

"Shed that disgusting skin of yours all you want, but you will never use that arm again." Naruto stated.

She sheathed her tanto after cleaning it on the snake's robes, biting her thumb to draw blood and flashing through handseals so fast even the snake sannin couldn't see them.

She sank her nails into Orochimaru's bleeding stump, smirking when he hissed in rage and pain.

"**Fuuinjutsu Style: Dead Cell Curse**!"**(2)**

The blonde grimaced in pain as her chakra forced itself through her disrupted coils, and she nearly overwhelmed them when she summoned too much for the technique. Naruto reeled her essence back in, and it fell dormant.

Blue spiraled up Orochimaru's stump, enlarging until it was entirely engulfed by Naruto's chakra. The blue turned a deep purple, before shifting to a pitch black. Orochimaru's skin shriveled, the stump nothing but a lump of dead black flesh.

"Even if I stop breathing, my chakra will eat the cells in your arm. No one will be able to heal you." Naruto said coldly, even as blood bubbled out of her mouth. "Your cells are dead. My chakra is fueled by the natural energy of your soul. And even if you somehow make new cells, my chakra will eat those up until there is nothing left."

"That's what you get for underestimating me, Orochimaru." The blonde said.

With that, she promptly dropped off the side of the tree, unconscious.

Sakura had finally found the strength to stand up, and threw a kunai to pin the blonde by the back of her jacket to another tree trunk.

_Thunk._

Naruto dangled there, safe.

"Insufferable little brat!" Orochimaru hissed. "You think this will stop me? A _sannin_?"

Naruto was out of the game, her stun tag's time burned out, and the paper dissolved.

Sasuke, having used up nearly all of his chakra, was running on fumes, and couldn't move fast enough to dodge as the snake's neck shot out at him, and sunk his fangs into the side of his neck.

Sasuke cried out in pain, slapping his hand over the bite as it stung unbearably, and fell to one knee.

"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed.

"A gift from me to you." Orochimaru smiled spitefully. "And tell that little blonde nuisance of yours this _isn't _over."

The one armed sannin collapsed into a pile of mud, and Sakura was left to catch yet another one of her teammates before he fell off the branch, unconscious.

The pinkette worriedly bit her lips at the menacing three black tomoe on the side of Sasuke's neck, and wondered what she should do.

* * *

Seeing Orochimaru had escaped somewhat safely, his four allies hidden in the shadows left the forest.

* * *

Four days later, Sasuke carried Naruto on his back into the tower within the Forest of Death. Sakura and Kabuto trailed quietly behind him.

Sasuke didn't remember breaking that Sound nin's arms. But Sakura said he had gotten angry when he saw how beat up she'd been and that her hair was cropped to uneven spikes. She said the mark Orochimaru put on him covered him in horrible black markings, and that he had been cruel, laughing as he broke Zaku's arms. Apparently, he fell unconscious again after the sound nin fled in terror. And when he woke up again, as himself, Naruto was still out like a light, face twisted in pain even in her forced sleep.

They had met Kabuto on the way to the tower.

Sasuke didn't like him.

He learned when Naruto said or behaved as if she didn't like someone, and she wasn't being stubborn or something, that he needed to heed that.

And he would.

He winced as the mark on his neck throbbed.

A voice hissed in the back of his head, whispering evils to him. Sasuke ignored it.

The Uchiha watched numbly as Sakura and Kabuto figured out what to do with the scrolls. Kabuto bid the duo fair well, wished Naruto to get better, and went back outside to wait for his supposedly separated teammates.

Iruka poofed in when Sakura activated the scrolls, making to congratulate them before he noticed the haggard state they were in.

The scarred Chunin fretted over them like the mother hen he was, and ushered them to the infirmary.

It took five hours for the rest of whoever was going to show up to the tower to arrive.

The numbers really had been halved. Hell, more than halved.

Naruto opened her eyes.

Sasuke tried to ignore the ache in his neck.

* * *

Team ten, nine, eight, seven, Gaara's squad, and other Chunin hopefuls stood within a large room.

The floors were cement, and to the far left, parallel with a balcony for seating, was a pair of giant statue hands forming a seal. Above the statue, was another balcony, this one smaller, which was private, only for the Hokage and a select few of Jounin. Anko and Ibiki were already up there, the purple haired woman seemed angry, and there was bandages around one of her hands. Her trench coat was stained with mud. She had obviously fought Orochimaru. And by the look in her hazel eyes, she lost.

The Hokage stood before the battered Chunin hopefuls, looking wise without even trying, his gnarled hands folded peacefully behind his back. Another Jounin stood at his side, with shaggy earth brown hair, a bandana with his hitai-ate sewn onto the front, standard Jounin garb, katana at his back, and solemn black eyes that had equally black smudges beneath them. He coughed into his fist, only adding more to his sickly image.

"Congratulations on passing the Second Exam. I am your next proctor, Hayate Gekko."

There were a few cheers at the accomplishment, but were quickly silenced by the sickly man's annoyed frown.

"Right then, I need to inform you that the Third Exam must be postponed."

"What!?" Kiba snapped. "What the hell for!?"

Hayate nonchalantly glanced at the clipboard in his hand.

"In short," He broke off into a fit of coughing. "There are too many of you. So, we'll be holding preliminary matches to cut down the numbers."

"No way!" Ino shrieked, outraged.

"Way," Hayate deadpanned. "Now, before we get to that, does anyone want to forfeit?"

"Me!"

Hayate stared expressionlessly into the crowd, glancing down at his clipboard and back up.

"Kabuto Yakushi yes?" The sickly man asked, uninterested.

"Yeah," Kabuto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head bashfully. "I don't have enough chakra to fight anymore."

"Whatever." Hayate shrugged. "Anyone else?"

Muttering passed over the crowd, teams debating and conversing. Some nodded, and walked off towards the door where Kabuto stood.

Sakura looked uncertainly at Sasuke's neck. His mark was hidden by his blue collar, but Sakura knew it hurt.

Slowly, she began to raise her hand.

"Sakura."

The pinkette flinched, looking up fully, hurt squeezing her heart at Sasuke's thunderous expression.

"Anyone else?" Hayate called boredly.

Sakura dropped her hand.

"Great." The sickly man flatlined. "Those who forfeited may go. All those who are not Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi head up to the bleachers."

The sound of shuffling sandals filled the room. The genin were all up above, settling in their seats with their Jounin sensei at their sides. All except for Naruto.

She stood at Sasuke's side, her hair loose from it's braid, falling to the back of her ankles and curtaining her eyes. She flicked her bangs out of her face so Sasuke could see how serious she was.

"Don't do anything stupid." The blonde said.

"Tch." Sasuke grunted. "Whatever. Don't tell me what to do, Naruto."

The blonde patted his shoulder encouragingly and smiled, walking off to join the other genin.

Sasuke held in his own smile. He was glad Naruto was almost back to normal. A little quiet, but at least she was coherent.

That was good enough for him. As long as she would get better, he didn't care if she never hit him again.

"Alright," Hayate coughed. "I forgot to mention, even if your teammates forfeit, from this point on it will not affect you."

Sasuke nearly face planted. Well, looks like he'd been a little hard on Sakura. He'd apologize later.

The Uchiha snorted under his breath.

Yeah right.

"This is the first match. Sasuke vs. Yoroi. Please begin." Hayate called blandly.

Sasuke drew a kunai. Yoroi followed his lead, taking out four shuriken.

Sasuke's opponent stood a bit over ten feet away from him, and even under the round glasses and face mask, Sasuke knew he was smirking. He could see the slight wrinkling in the corners of his eyes, how his cheekbones raised.

_'So he's cocky...' _Sasuke thought, annoyed. _'I'll certainly show him then, won't I?'_

* * *

Naruto went up and stood by Sakura, Kakashi-sensei on the other side of her pink haired teammate.

Everyone watched Sasuke and Yoroi stare each other down.

"Hey... Naruto... Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura spoke up, dragging Naruto and Kakashi's attention over to her.

"Nani?" The blonde asked.

"Kakashi-sensei? Someone informed you about Orochimaru being in the village, right?" The pinkette asked.

She flinched when Kakashi's eye sliced into her seriously.

"How do you know about that?" He demanded, glancing around briefly to check if anyone had overheard.

No one noticed.

Sakura grimaced.

"He attacked us." The pinkette whispered, wringing her hands.

Kakashi's eye bulged.

"Why didn't you guys say something sooner!?" He hissed.

The blonde merely shrugged.

"I'm sorry!" Sakura whimpered, almost in tears. "I-I'm j-just worried... he bit Sasuke! A-and there's this m-mark that he told me n-not to tell anyone a-about, but it's h-hurting him so I _have _to tell!"

"What?" Naruto choked.

Both of her teammates looked at her, surprised.

Naruto slammed her hands onto Sakura's shoulders, yanking her around to fully face furious blue eyes.

"Bit him?" She demanded. "And it left a mark? What kind of mark? What did it look like? Tell me damnit!"

Sakura's eyes filled with tears, and she attempted to stutter out a response.

But the blonde and Kakashi were forced to pay attention to the match when they heard Sasuke yell in pain.

"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed.

Down in the arena, Yoroi was behind Sasuke, his limbs wrapped around Sasuke's own in a constricting hold. It appeared as if he didn't even have bones.

"If you don't give up, I'll break your arms and legs." Yoroi warned.

Sasuke winced, but fought.

Yoroi tightened his hold, chuckling darkly.

"Just give up little boy. Know when you've lost."

Sasuke scowled, thrashing around, though, it was in vain. Yoroi would not be releasing his hold.

"Sasuke get out of there!" Sakura blurted.

"Sasuke-kun noooooo!" Ino shrieked.

_'Kami no...' _Naruto thought, watching Sasuke's mangekyou flare to life.

The Uchiha winced deeply in pain, and to Naruto's utmost horror, black flame markings bordered by the color of magma creeped from beneath the Uchiha's collar.

_'I KNEW IT!' _Naruto thought, enraged. _'It's that filthy snake's fucking Cursed Seal!'_

Foul chakra began radiating off of Sasuke's body, and Yoroi recoiled as it singed him, smoke rising from his shirt as he stumbled back, limbs flopping and reeling in, snapping back into their sockets.

"I'm going to murder you." Sasuke grinned gleefully.

A purple aura spilled off of Sasuke's fingertips, he raised his right hand at the stunned stiff Yoroi, and the purple aura solidified. A large skeletal arm formed around Sasuke's, who thrust his smaller limb forward. The phantom arm copied his motion, big bone hand slapping against Yoroi's chest and pinning him to the wall. The result was instantaneous.

Yoroi slumped in unconsciousness.

The masked man's head smacked against the wall, leaving a smudge of bright red, and the concrete behind his back splintered from his body's impact.

"Okay that's enough Uchiha." Hayate spoke up from the side. "Yoroi is unable to continue. You've won."

"Yay! Go Sasuke-kun!" Ino cheered obliviously.

Sasuke giggled darkly.

"Naruto." The Third barked, surprising everyone in the room at his clipped, merciless tone.

"Way ahead of you Old Man." The blonde growled, biting her thumb and speeding through handseals.

Sasuke's violet phantom arm clasped Yoroi's torso, squeezing crushingly, and causing a symphony of snapping bones to sing through the room.

Sakura's breath hitched as Ino dropped in a dead faint. Shikamaru didn't even catch his teammate as he turned green, Choji mirroring the state of his stomach as the Akimichi vomited.

Shino winced faintly, Kiba paling rapidly as Hinata began shaking.

Neji scowled as Lee shook his head mournfully, and Tenten clenched her fists.

Kankuro looked away alongside Temari.

Sasuke cackled.

And Gaara... well... Gaara looked like he wanted to join in.

Having had enough, Naruto flashed away, causing Kakashi to flinch at the yellow blur she left behind.

"**Fuuinjutsu Style: Ichi, Ni, San, Yon! **_**Torii**_!"

Naruto appeared again above Sasuke, falling face first towards the ground, bleeding hand stretched outwards towards the manic Uchiha.

Four red torii gates slammed down around Sasuke, pinning him to the floor. His vile chakra was abruptly cut off by the barrier within the torii. Only to explode, and begin forming a body. The violet body of the infamous mangekyou's Susanoo.

Naruto landed on the cage in a crouch, the resounding bang making some on the room flinch. The blonde completed another series of handseals as Sasuke thrashed around in blind anger, the curse seal leaking evil chakra that faded his skin to a deathly gray. His Susanoo roared with it's master in rage, glowing yellow eyes promising fatal injury.

"**Fuuinjutsu Style: Evil Eater!**"

Naruto's right hand darted through the red bars, her fingertips alight with blue flame, and she stabbed her fingers over the blazing cursed mark. Sasuke's violet chakra burned Naruto's flesh to nothing but blackened charred. Sickly white bone gleamed through the decimated limb.

They both screamed in utter agony, Sasuke's body slumping, curse mark hissing before receding back beneath his collar.

Naruto's eyes stung with tears at her own pain, and the pain she caused her brother. The blonde wheezed, her skin losing all color as she finished the jutsu through sheer willpower. Her chakra spiraled into turmoil, Orochimaru's seal causing the blonde's coils to overload, and blow out.

"G-gah!" Red sprayed from Naruto's lips, she stumbled back, and would've cracked her head from the fall if Kakashi hadn't of shunshined behind her to catch her.

Naruto's body spasmed in her Sensei's arms, ugly blue-black bruises blooming all over her left arm, abdomen, and legs. Her right arm's flesh steamed, and wept streams of boiling blood. Kakashi worriedly noted her chakra was leaking out of their coils, and damaging her internal organs.

Hinata's byakugan activated, the gentle Hyuga's mouth releasing a choked sob at the utter devastation that Naruto's coils were in.

"Oh Kami!" Sakura wailed is anguish. "What's happening to them? What's wrong!?"

Naruto gasped, blood pouring out of her mouth as her body shut down the second time that week.

She didn't get back up.

* * *

**(1) Burning Ash is Asuma's jutsu. Shisui taught Naruto Asuma's fighting style, including jutsu he copied with his sharingan. Naruto taught Sasuke because of his secondary Fire affinity.**

**(2) Remember The Third gave Naruto many sealing books over the years for her training. She knows a lot of sealing techniques. Evil Eater, and Body Implosion (made by moi), are her own creations. Dead Cell Curse and the Torii seal are made up by me too. But lets just pretend they're legit, mmmmkay? ;)**

**Also, the reason Naruto didn't just kill Orochimaru is because she sensed his allies nearby, and knew with the five pronged seal on her, that she could not possibly fight four powerful shinobi and win. Neither could Sasuke, as he was exhausted and Sakura... Well, she's Sakura okay?**

**Lol. Til next time.**


	21. Sunshine, Chunin Exams

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

An hour earlier to a certain blue haired genin's departure, someone was thinking about her.

As she spilled everything that she was... a blue eyed girl wondered if she had been cruel, playing possum like that.

Then she thought of that smile...

_'Nope... it's okay... for once... things are actually okay...'_

* * *

Hinata Hyuga meekly scuttled through the hallways of Konoha's hospital, her lavender eyes trained on the floor, an assortment of white, yellow, and orange lilies wrapped in white, orange naruto printed paper in her arms.

She had long ago mastered the art of blending in a crowd and moving about silently, but at the same time, effectively. This technique made sure she was never in anyone's way.

It was one less thing her father could scold her about.

Hinata was never in anyone's way.

But somehow... She still managed to be a burden.

When the Hyuga reached room 109, she knocked on the door out of pure polight habit, and let herself in.

Like all the times before, Naruto Uzumaki lied in her hospital bed, pale and as still as death. She wore a breathing mask, a plain hospital gown, and her arms, legs, and chest were swarmed with white wires. She didn't even have a cover. The machine to the blonde's right beeped steadily with her relaxed pulse. And her bright blonde hair spilled over both sides of the bed, brushing the floor.

The room was dark, but Hinata had been visiting since Naruto had been put in the room, so she ignored the annoyance she felt at the hospital staff for neglecting Naruto, and went over to the large window to throw the drab curtains open.

She walked over to Naruto's bedside, setting the flowers next to the blonde's head on the nightstand. The floor by the Nightstand was covered in small potted plants, and flowers from the Hyuga's previous visits. Hinata made a mental note to bring some soil and another pot for Naruto's new lilies.

The Hyuga pulled a white scuffed plastic chair from the side of the nightstand, and quietly set it beside Naruto's bed. She took a seat, and just looked at the blonde.

Naruto had always been Hinata's ray of sunlight. Something bright and strong that contradicted all that Hinata was. Dull and weak. A person to be ignored. A person to be brushed aside without a second thought, even though she was from the prestigious Hyuga clan. Even though she was a main branch member. Hell, the _heir _to the clan, and yet... yet she was nothing.

Naruto came from nothing. She was an orphan. Everyone knew that. And Hinata watched her all the time. Even it if it was creepy... she watched Naruto. She was just so fascinated. How could Naruto, who should have been even more miserable than Hinata, manage to be so bright? Naruto didn't have a clan's backing. She didn't have anyone. And yet, she commanded attention. She commanded respect without actually looking for it. She was... she was everything Hinata wished she could be. Naruto was sunshine itself. Bright, yet potentially dangerous.

As long as the Hyuga could remember, the blonde had been alone. But...

But _someone_...

Someone had loved Naruto. Hinata knew. She remembered, the taste of blood, and that pleading voice rasping from behind her, _"please stay by Naruto's side in my stead". _Pitifully, it had taken until now, for Hinata to find the courage to try.

The small, blue haired girl took hold of Naruto's right hand, she laced their fingers together, marveling silently at Naruto's smooth, soft, and blemishless skin. How could her arm have been burned beyond recognition, only for it to heal a week later with not a flaw in sight?

Hinata wondered.

How could one person be so amazing?

"Naruto-chan..." Hinata whispered. "I never was quite brave enough to speak to all the other times I visited..."

The gentle Hyuga took a breath, her cheeks flooding with red shame.

"You must think I'm pathetic... that I could talk to you, knowing you can't hear me without stuttering even once..."

Hinata untangled their fingers, only to take hold of Naruto's hand again, with both of her pale ones gently wrapping around Naruto's tan one.

"It's just that... We're really different Naruto-chan... you're so strong, and I'm weak. But for some reason, I still chase behind you trying to catch up." Hinata's eyes, began stinging, and she sniffled, but didn't pull her hands away from Naruto. "I just want to walk with you... I wanted to be your friend ever since the academy, but I never had the courage to talk to you. And when circumstances made it so you talked to me all I could do was stutter like an idiot!"

Hinata sobbed, a dam breaking as her eyes looked at Naruto's colorless sleeping face. Tears poured out of her eyes, and her lips trembled as she tried to quiet down.

"I-I always thought you were so strong..." The Hyuga cried. "A-and you _are, _but, I think it only hit me when you snapped in the first exam. It hit me that you're only human, Naruto. You're n-not invincible... Things hurt you. You get angry... You feel sadness. And you're not an angel... You're a person."

Hinata's small frame shook with the force of her tears, and her voice had warped, and she was barely coherent she was crying _so _hard.

"B-but it nearly destroyed me w-when you collapsed at the preliminaries." Hinata continued. "I thought you were dead. For a moment, you looked dead... Naruto. I was _so_ worried. You will _never _know how much... but I... I'm... B-but I'm _weak._ I wanted to rush after Kakashi-sensei. I wanted to be by your side every step of the way... but I was scared. I hesitated and now you're in this bed, and you've been here for nearly a month, and three more days and it _will _be a month."

Naruto's hand remained slack in Hinata's hold.

Something in the Hyuga's chest splintered.

"Please wake up Naruto..." Hinata whispered brokenly. "Please _please _wake up."

Naruto didn't open her eyes.

* * *

Thirty minutes of silence.

Hinata took that time to calm down, wipe her face, and compose herself. When the gentle Hyuga found she could speak without bursting into tears, she took hold of Naruto's warm hand again, the only sound in the room being the blonde's heart monitor, and her slow, easy breathing.

"Guess what Naruto-chan?" Hinata called softly, knowing she wouldn't get an answer. But she liked to pretend Naruto would rudely call back 'nani?' in that bizarrely charming way of hers and smile at the Hyuga. And Hinata would smile back because they were friends, and they would laugh together for a while before Hinata answered.

"After you and Sasuke-san... _left, _Sakura had to fight Ino and she won. Sakura won her match, isn't that great?"

Hinata pulled one of her hands away to play with a soft lock of gold that lied near their joined hands.

"Temari beat Tenten-san, and Shikamaru-san beat that female Sound ninja. I had to fight Neji-nii-san, and of course, I lost... but I did do my best, because I knew you wouldn't give up if you were in a bind too." Hinata shook her head, absently twirling the gold strands around her finger.

"Poor Lee-san, that Gaara boy... he really hurt him. He has this weird sand technique he uses, and calls it his ultimate defense... even though Lee-san was really strong and fast, Gaara crushed his arm and leg with his sand... Shino-kun beat another Sound nin that had broken arms, and Kiba and Choji knocked each other out, so neither one of them will be proceeding."

Hinata perked up.

"But guess what else?" The Hyuga smiled. "The Third allowed Sasuke to go to the next round, and he said you can too if you wake up in time... but... you only have three more days, and it doesn't look like you're going to wake up..."

Hinata stopped playing with Naruto's hair.

"Kakashi-sensei is off training Sasuke-san to fight Gaara, and Sakura-san is learning medical jutsu here at the hospital to fight the Sound nin Dosu. If you wake up Naruto, you'll have to fight Neji-nii-san... And Shikamaru-san has to fight Temari of Sand."

The Hyuga took a deep breath, not used to talking so much. Her jaw kind of hurt.

"Shino-kun has to fight Kankuro of Sand, and that's all who passed the preliminaries."

Hinata glanced at the clock over the door, lavender eyes bugging out at the time.

She was only supposed to stay about fifteen minutes. She'd been visiting for a whole hour.

"O-oh no!" She stuttered, thinking of her father's disapproving glare. "I-I was sup-p-posed t-to be home a-ages ago!"

The gentle Hyuga gracelessly shot out of her chair, pulling her hand from Naruto's. Hinata took one step towards the door and-

She froze.

Her skin drained sheet white.

There was a hand.

A warm, soft hand strongly, yet gently clasping her own.

The next thing the Hyuga knew, she was being pulled back.

She fell backwards with a squeak of fright, and right into a strong embrace.

"D..." The person behind her rapsed, voice faint from disuse.

They tried again.

"D-did you mean... did you mean... wh-what... what you said...?"

Hinata's face flooded with color.

She was awake...

Naruto was _awake._

_'She heard me!' _Hinata's mind screamed. _'Kami Naruto heard me talking to her! She must think I'm a complete weirdo! She must never want to see me again because I'm creepy and she thinks I'm obsessed with her and-'_

The arms around her tightened. A nose burying into her blue hair.

"Did you mean that?" Naruto asked quietly. "Hinata..."

Hinata nearly fainted. Naruto said her name.

Naruto said her name without a formal tone or casual dismissal.

Naruto said Hinata's name kindly. She said her name like they were friends...

"Do you... do you want to be my friend...?"

Hinata was confused.

Why did Naruto sound so skeptical?

Didn't she realize how wonderful she was?

What the blonde said next made Hinata dizzy with happiness.

"I... I want you to be my friend too..."

The blue haired girl felt Naruto's face shift out of her hair.

"Are those... did you bring me all of those?"

Hinata's clouded mind shambled around what Naruto could possibly mean by that.

Then it hit her.

_'The plants genius!' _Hinata nearly smacked her forehead.

Instead, she nodded dumbly, lavender eyes still bugged out as they stared at the tan arms wrapped around her middle.

"Oh... wow..." Naruto murmured. "You're the second person to ever flat out tell me that you want to be close to me... I almost don't know what to do... or say..."

Naruto sounded happy, Hinata noted.

Wait.

_What?_

She sounded happy...!

Kami... Kami must've finally heard her prayers.

_'Naruto is happy that I'm around?' _Hinata tried to comprehend this. _'She doesn't think me being around would be a burden... she __wants __to be my friend too... Th-that... that's amazing... I'm so happy...!'_

"Hey..." Naruto called softly, shifting the Hyuga around so they could face each other. "Why are you crying, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata sat on her knees, lips trembling and cheeks flushed red. She poked her fingers together uncertainly, and embarrassed.

"I-I'm just..." Hinata whimpered. "I'm just so... so _happy."_

The blonde blinked. And for one horrible moment, Hinata thought that she had said something wrong. She thought that as usual, she had ruined everything. That she had creeped Naruto out and now the blonde never wanted to see her again because she thought she was a sicko. And Hinata's fragile little heart was on the brink of breaking. But then... _Then..._

Naruto grinned.

"Then don't cry." The blonde laughed.

She was so bright when she laughed. So beautiful. So close to perfect it was staggering.

"Smile." Naruto said kindly. "Just smile, Hinata-chan."

Something remarkable happened.

Hinata's whole face lit up as she smiled, tears spilling out of her lavender eyes.

_'How... how could one person be so wonderful?'_

The gentle Hyuga knew she'd probably never know.

_'Naruto... I'll be the best friend you've ever had...'_

* * *

The next day, Naruto was going to be released from the hospital. She had been stretching, and getting familiar with her muscles ever since Hinata left the previous day. After a quick shower in the bathroom that came with the room, silently thanking Jiji for looking out for her, Naruto sat on her bed.

Her eyes were closed, and her breathing relaxed. Her consciousness drifted between sleep and wakefulness.

She hadn't talked to Murmur since the second Exam, and the blonde had a _lot _to talk to her humanity about.

When she opened her eyes again, she was in a shabby sewer. The water was up to her knees, and the walls were cracked looking as if she breathed next to them, they would fall to pieces. The Kyuubi's cage stood tall before her, thick with shadows, looking empty, but Naruto knew the fox was in there. Watching her.

_"What took you so long?"_

Naruto flinched, and turned around to face the owner of that exhausted voice.

Murmur looked even more deathly than the first time they met.

Her big baby blues were half mast, looking so tired it was sad. Murmur's stitches were gone. But her lips were scarred. Proof of the suffering she had endured in silence for _years. _The six year old's chains were gone too, but this only emphasized the fact that she was a stick bug. Her legs looked one second away from giving way beneath her.

"Sorry..." Naruto said. "I just woke up. Apparently, I've been out of it for nearly a month. Two more days and it will be."

_"Naruto. This is extremely important." _Murmur stated. Shocking Naruto stiff. All the older blonde could do was gape.

_"I don't have much time to tell you. My consciousness is fading away..."_

"What?" Naruto croaked. "What do you mean? Where are you going?"

_'No... not you too... don't you do this to me...' _The blonde thought frantically. _'Don't you fucking __do __this to me!'_

_"I'm sorry Naruto," _Murmur sighed, sounding as if it was her last breath. _"I'm sorry that this is hurting you... But I'm not really going anywhere. We'll just be one person again. I won't have a voice because I won't be separate from you anymore... but that's a good thing. It's all I've ever wanted actually... ever since I was created... I wanted to go home..."_

"B-b-b-but... who will I argue with? Or joke with? Who'll tell me the truth when I'm lying to myself? How will I even _know_ if I'm lying to myself?" Naruto asked helplessly.

Murmur smiled softly.

_"That's what you have friends for, Naruto. Talk to them... get to know them... laugh with them... argue with them." _The six year old shook her head, giggling quietly. _"And you don't need me to tell you when you're lying to yourself. You'll just know. Just be honest with yourself... Ask for help from people who care about you... and you will be just fine."_

"This can't be happening." Naruto mumbled. "It just... can't... It _won't._"

_"It can. And it __is__." _Murmur chided. _"Pull yourself together. You're stronger than this. __We're __stronger than this."_

Murmur was right.

But honestly, when _wasn't _she?

Naruto shook her head.

"It'll be so quiet in here... without you constantly nagging at me..." Naruto chuckled, blue eyes looking far away.

_"I'll be with you. I don't belong in here, Naruto." _

The blonde blinked, and shook her head, clearing her thoughts.

_'That's right... we'll be one person... We're __supposed __to be one person...'_

It was going to be okay.

Naruto wasn't a lonely little kid anymore.

She had people who she cared about.

It wasn't perfect. But it was _something. _

"Okay," Naruto gave in, shoulders slumping. "Okay... you win. What... what do you have to tell me?"

_"It's about the other presence."_

"What about it?" The blonde asked tiredly.

_'Remember when you asked me if it was dangerous? And I said I didn't know?"_

"Yeah..." The blonde pursed her lips. "So?"

_"Well, it wasn't. I figured out what it was by sorting through your memories. Your original seal, the Kyuubi's, has eight prongs. Something you did caused it to evolve, and increase to twelve. And more recently, Orochimaru's seal caused it to go up to seventeen. That's what threw your chakra system all out of wack. Odd numbered seals are unnatural and dangerous."_

_'A four pronged seal...' _Naruto thought.

Oh shit.

_That's _what it was?

Why hadn't that been the _first _thing she thought of?

Naruto's eyes bulged.

_"Yes." _Murmur confirmed. _"That's exactly what happened. That presence, was by no means dangerous to you."_

Wait...

"Why are you speaking in past tense?" Naruto questioned nervously.

_"Because it's gone."_

"What." It didn't even sound like a question.

Murmur sighed.

_"Naruto, the presence is gone. Someone's been tampering with the seal from outside. I thought it was you at first, because they got rid of Orochimaru's seal first. But then, the chakra was used to deconstruct the extra four prongs too. And you would never do that. You put them there for a reason."_

_'Oh Kami...'_

_"Naruto, I'm running out of time." _Murmur said seriously. _"I'll use my last moments as a separate being to warn you, the chakra presence that messed with your seal, is in the same room."_

Naruto focused on Murmur's face, noticing how radiant she looked as she smiled. For the first time she looked healthy _and _happy. No scars or bruises, or tired eyes to be seen. She looked like a normal, innocent, six year old girl.

And that's the way it should be.

Naruto didn't even _want _to stop herself from smiling back.

_"Tadaima." _Murmur giggled.

"Okaeri." Naruto chuckled back.

Murmur grinned at Naruto, one of her front teeth missing, creating an endearing sight.

Murmur threw her arms open wide, as if she was embracing her home itself, her little body burst into a bright, beautiful show of lights, forcing Naruto to shield her eyes.

When Murmur's light faded, the Kyuubi's presence was even more prominent in Naruto's psych.

She was the voice that murmured in the dark.

But now...

She was home, where she was supposed to be.

She was Naruto.

* * *

Naruto's blue eyes slid open.

She, apparently, had been sorely mistaken.

She had expected a fight.

She _hadn't_ expected to see her Jiji, Kakashi-sensei, and some giant with white hair and red tattoos down his face to be staring her down.

"What the hell kind of freak show did you bring into my room, Old Man?" The blonde joked, unfolding her legs to slip off of her hospital bed.

Her eyes hardened when The Third looked at her, usually kind brown eyes as serious as murder.

"Naruto," Sarutobi Hiruzen said gravely, because her Jiji would never look at her like that.

This man, standing in front of her, was The Third Hokage. The infamous God of Shinobi.

"Hai?" The blonde asked, cocking her head to the side.

"This is Jiraiya. He is-"

"One of the Sannin. The Toad Sage, and seal master." Naruto finished flatly. She folded her arms, frowning. "What the hell are you guys doing in here, looking like you've come to execute me for treason?"

"It's nothing so severe, Naruto." Kakashi promised. "Jiraiya-sama just has some questions about your..."

"Seal." The old toad supplied, his voice deep and somewhat gravelly. "I want to know why it had seventeen prongs when it should only have eight. Sensei told me you're interested in seals, but if you've been playing around with that fox, I'm telling you now, you need to _stop._"

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?" Naruto snapped. "You think I'm a fucking moron? Who knows better than me that the fox is dangerous? It's _inside _me. But you guys know all about that, don't you? Fucking Fourth lovers."

"Naruto!" The Third snapped.

The blonde huffed.

"Fucking _shit _Old Man, _okay._" Naruto ran a frustrated hand through her bangs. "I _know _Kyuubi's seal should have eight prongs. I studied it like crazy as soon as I could after I found out the fox was inside me. It's the reason I created the Evil Eater seal. Because I was afraid one day I might lose control. I don't know if you've noticed, but I've got something of a temper."

Naruto ignored the fact that Kakashi and the Third snorted in agreement.

"Evil Eater is designed to feed off of malicious chakra, and destroy it. It doesn't contain it because that will only allow it to build up. The more bad chakra, the faster the seal consumes."

Naruto sighed explosively.

"Listen, I _did _seal something into my stomach. But I didn't think the Kyuubi's seal would evolve. It was just a simple containment seal**(1)**. Orochimaru's five pronged seal is what actually put me in the hospital."

"But," Naruto glared at Jiraiya. "You've been screwing around you old toad! Where is it?"

"Oh, if what you mean by that is the crow you sealed inside yourself, its gone." The Toad Sage said flippantly.

"What?" Naruto croaked.

"The window was open when I fixed your seal. The bird flew out before anyone thought to catch it. And that was _weeks _ago. The thing's long gone kid."

"YOU COLOSSAL IDIOT!" Naruto roared, vermillion eyes flaring to life, ghastly orange chakra swallowing her form.

All three adults flinched when her whisker marks darkened, becoming more prominent, and her hair raised up, resembling nine furiously thrashing tails.

"**Do you have **_**any **_**idea of what you've done**?" The blonde growled, voice monstrous, and eyes boiling with loathing. "**I'm gonna **_**KILL you**_!"

"Naruto!" Kakashi barked, appalled. "You are _way _out of line!"

"Naruto stop using that chakra this _instant_!" Sarutobi yelled.

"_What?_" Naruto hissed, though, Kyuubi's cloak receded, her whiskers faded, and her hair fell back down around her sides. The only thing that didn't change was her enraged red eyes. "Are you guys _serious_? That crow... that crow had Shisui's...!"

"Yes... the Uchiha..." Jiraiya drawled, turning to the Third. "Sensei... Didn't you say he and Naruto..."

The Toad Sage trailed off as his Sensei shook his head frantically in the negative. Kakashi watched them, baffled.

"Feel like I'm missing something vital here..." The silver haired enigma mumbled.

The men turned back to Naruto, alarmed to see her eyes were clouded over, and she was muttering to herself.

"-he has it... what if... what if that old cripple has Shisui's other... Oh Kami... Itachi... what have I allowed to happen...?"

"Naruto...?" Sarutobi called. "Naruto what's-"

"Damnit!" Naruto cursed, coming back to herself suddenly, eyes filling with liquid.

She turned to Jiraiya, vermillion eyes defeated.

"You stupid old toad. You ruined _everything. _Now I'll never be able to face Itachi again. He trusted me and I... it's... _it's your fault!_"

"Itachi?" Jiraiya asked, confused. "The traitor? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Not only am I failing to pull Sasuke from his downward spiral into hatred, but I also managed to lose something I sealed inside myself!" Naruto threw up her hands.

And she laughed.

She laughed. And she laughed. And she _laughed. _

But... she was really crying.

"What?" She giggled helplessly at the three gawking men. "Is the demon not allowed to break? Is she supposed to be some heartless wretch? Well guess what? I'm human! I'm a fucking person, and not only that, just a _kid_."

Helplessly, Naruto's slumped, and her eyes mister over.

"I'm just a fucking kid with a huge burden on her shoulders. And I've got a little brother I can't help because the lesson he needs to learn is something that I _can't _teach him. People have such huge expectations for me and expect me to be invincible. But you know what? Maybe I don't want to be strong all the time. Maybe all I want is a fucking hug. But does anyone give _one _fuck? Nope! 'Let's all just shove her under a rug somewhere! Maybe then we won't have to watch as she rots away!'"

Naruto watched their slack faces, tears streaming endlessly down her grinning face as she gasped for breath from her rant.

"You should all see the looks on your faces." She giggled behind her hand.

Red eyes took over an almost manic gleam.

"You know, I love Shisui. Love him so much it crushes me everyday to know part of the reason he's dead, is because he feared he'd eventually betray the village to protect me."

They watched as Naruto laughed. Laughed so hard her face turned red and her frame shook violently.

"Hehehehe~ You know what else?" She snickered brokenly. "Itachi didn't destroy his body. I sealed it! Isn't that _great? Hehehe..._Every time I close my eyes... I see the faces of the men I killed to seal Shisui away. Hehehe~ Have you ever watched someone decay at an accelerated rate? Hehehe~ Did you watch them scream for help like I. did, but they couldn't, because you'd ripped out their tongue? Did you watch them choke on their own blood...? Hehehehe~ You don't want too...hehehe... it's horrible... it'll haunt you so bad... so bad you'll wish you were dead..."

"Naruto." Kakashi said gravely. "Naruto, you're on a thin line right now. You need help..."

_'What am I doing? I need to pull myself together! This won't break me... I won't __let __it.'_

"Nope, I'm not that crazy." Naruto sobered slightly, her red eyes fading away to blue. "I'm mourning... I'll be okay... maybe it'll take years... but I'm not alone."

She turned towards the window, gazing out towards the highest point in the village.

The Hokage's Monument.

The place of Shisui's resting. The place where his spirit watched the sunrise everyday.

"I get sad a lot. And angry. And maybe I'm really not entirely sane... but locking me away in a padded room won't help me. Plus, I've got too many things to do before my story's over."

Naruto glanced back at them, and smiled, almost sheepishly.

"Sorry I kind of lost it there... and to be honest, I really want to cut your head off, Jiraiya, but being _that _kind of felon isn't really my style..."

The blonde walked over to her bedside, picking up her love's tanto from the nightstand and marveling at the perfect, razor blade.

"This was Shisui's..." She told them, smiling fondly at the blade. "My story won't end until I've lived up to the person Hinata sees when she looks at me. And I know Sasuke is safe. I'll protect this village because I promised Itachi I would. And I never go back on my word."

Her form dissolved after she was engulfed by a typhoon of chaotic winds, leaving behind a whisper that all three men heard perfectly.

"Because that's my nindo. My ninja way."

* * *

When Naruto arrived home, she immediately realized something was off.

_'Who the hell's in here?' _ She thought dangerously.

She closed her door behind her, slipped off her sandals like she usually would, but held her tanto in such a way it would only take a well aimed swing to behead the intruder.

The blonde slunk past her four mitch match chairs, and towards the back of her tiny apartment, to the place of her bathroom and bedroom.

_'They're behind this door, I can feel them... but how skilled are they if they got past my seals?'_

Naruto channeled chakra into her tanto, the blade singing with blazing wind chakra.

She deactivated her bedroom seals with one flick of her chakra, clasped her door knob, and threw it open with a resounding bang.

"Alright asshole, who the _fuck _are you and what are you doing in my-"

Her chakra sputtered and died out.

Her tanto slipped from her fingers, and clattered to the hardwood floors.

The person who sat on her bed, waiting for her, smiled.

Her heart ached.

This... this was too much.

It was _sick._

_'Who would do this?'_

Naruto wasn't strong enough to take this.

"Welcome home, Sunshine."

* * *

**(1) Think of a containment seal as a little pocket dimension. I say it has four prongs because when I think of containment, I think boxes. And when I think boxes, I think squares. And squares have four sides. Yaaaay I'm creative!**

**Lol. Tootles.**


	22. Paused, Chunin Exams

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy.**

* * *

Naruto expected to fall to pieces.

She expected to be a teary, blubbering mess. Seeing that face again... After what losing the person it belonged to did to her, it would be only natural. But... she was angry.

No.

She was _livid. _

Kyuubi's chakra rushed into her coils, a single irritated tail of burnt orange thrashing around behind her. Two long fox ears formed atop her head, and her hair raised around her the second time that day, her eyes deep boiling pits of magma, as vengeful as the Nine Tails itself.

"Who the fuck are you?" Naruto demanded. "Is this some kind of sick _joke? _You think this is _funny?"_

Shisui's face slackened in alarm. But it wasn't him. It was a _fake. _Shisui was _dead. _Naruto was the one who put him to rest. She _knew _he was gone. Because she was the one who cried over his grave and spoke to him, knowing he could never, _would_ never respond.

The fake's right eye was closed, the left wide as it took the enraged blonde's appearance.

_'The right one's gone... that's the one Danzo stole...'_

"W-wait!" The fake yelped. "I-I can explain! _Please!"_

"I'll fucking _kill_ you!" The blonde roared.

"Naru-"

"_Don't _you speak to me in his voice you bastard!"

Naruto reached towards him, Kyuubi's chakra flared, two orange arms bubbling with dire chakra shot out at the intruder, clawed hands wrapping around his middle, trapping his arms at his sides. He winced slightly as the chakra ate through his skin like acid, sizzling and popping.

"When I'm done with you, you won't even be a bloodied corpse. I'll turn you into fucking paste!" Naruto growled.

"Naruto..." The fake smiled at her with Shisui's lips. And it almost obliterated something in the blonde.

It was...

Just like...

Just like when she used to be cruel to him... and he could never get angry at her... or hate her...

"Naruto, I love you."

"Shut up!" Naruto screamed, sending the fake crashing into the far wall, standing over his crumpled form in a flash. "Just shut up and die you _sick _sonofabitch!"

The blonde raised one of her Kyuubi enhanced hands, fingers flexed and claws ready to tear out the bastard's throat. Though, something made her pause...

"Man..." The fake mumbled from his position on the floor. "This is worst than the time you barfed on me... all I said was welcome home..."

Kyuubi's chakra dissipated in an instant, no anger to fuel it's fire. Naruto fell to her knees as anguish consumed her.

She felt like someone had pierced her heart with a kunai, and was twisting it around slowly to make her suffer as much as possible. The blonde felt the carefully placed stitches she had gained over the past year be ripped open in one moment. Her heart was bleeding. She felt so confused... and hurt... and pitiful... and just... _sorrowful._

"Naruto..." That beautiful voice whispered, sympathetic.

The blonde screamed.

She couldn't stop screaming.

Naruto's face nearly went blue.

She slapped her hands over her ears, and shook her head from side to side, as if that would drown out that... that voice she had missed everyday for so long. And... _so much...!_

"Stop it. Don't talk. _Don't breathe. _Just stop it... Stop it. Stop it. _Stop it_. STOP IT!" The blonde shrieked, batting away the soft hands moving to comfort her. "Don't touch me you fucker! SHISUI'S DEAD! HE'S DEAD! DON'T TALK TO ME WEARING HIS FACE! HE'S DEAD HE'S DEAD HE'S DEAD HE'S DEAD HE'S _DEAD_!"

"No baby... I'm not dead..." The fake murmured, taking her hands, ignoring how the blonde screeched, and thrashed, and fought, and scratched. "I've always been with you, Naruto-chan... I never went anywhere..."

He pulled her into his arms, and they lied there together, on her creaking bedroom floors.

"He's dead..." The blonde choked. "My Shisui... is dead..."

"No, I'm right here... right in front of you, Naru-chan... look at me... Just look... please...?"

Naruto slumped bonelessly in those familiar arms. They were warm, bleeding and burned from Kyuubi's chakra... but there was _life _flowing through the veins beneath that damaged skin.

"You're horrible..." Naruto mumbled soullessly. "How could you do this? How could you be so horrible and... and _ruin _me like this? You're evil... just so... so disgusting... and... _heartless._"

Naruto heard his strong pulse beneath her ear.

But that was impossible...

Because Shisui was dead.

But... then again... no one else ever held her the way the arms around her were...

But Shisui was _dead._

He _couldn't_ hold her anymore.

No matter how much Naruto _wished _he could.

Naruto put him to rest...

"It's me baby... I'm right here..."

She _knew _he was dead.

And yet...

Yet... some part of her...

Hoped.

"You sealed the crow with my remaining eye inside you... Naruto..." He said.

Naruto's heart stuttered.

Maybe... just _maybe..._

Could it...?

Kami _please..._

Naruto swore she'd never tell a lie again if... if _only...!_

"Half of my soul and chakra was in that eye, Naruto. Danzo has the other eye, so he has the other half of both."

Naruto's heart stopped.

Her brain nearly did too.

The blonde feared she was experiencing that one brief moment people had right before they died. That one _horrible_ moment when you realize you're dead and it's over, and you never accomplished _anything _and you're still as much as nothing as you were when your cursed existence was brought into the wicked _wicked _world. And then you feel a despair so _deeply _you _want _it to be over.

All in... One. _Single_. Moment.

But then, her pulse started thump thumping again. Only, it was accelerated. Her heart was hammering like a jackrabbit in the chamber of her chest. And...

There was only ever _one _person who could make her heart beat like so.

Naruto blanked out for several moments.

It couldn't... _It just __couldn't __be!_

But Naruto _wanted _it to be.

She didn't even realize when she had sat up.

But when she blinked again, and she was actually _seeing, _she released the most defeated sob she ever did at the understanding in that single midnight eye.

She was so sad... so utterly tortured at having to see such a look on that face. A face she thought she'd _never _see brightened with life again. But... there was something _else. _Something good...

_'This is happening... its not a dream... it's not a joke... It's really... happening.'_

"Shisui...?" She breathed hopefully, _so_ quietly, even _she_ struggled to hear herself.

Nevertheless...

"Yes...?"

"Oh, _god!_" Naruto cried.

Naruto's hands rushed to his face, liquid spilling out of awed blue eyes. She ran her hands all over every part of the face beneath her. His fine black brows, his hairline, the shell of his ears, his sculpted nose, the length of his jaw, his soft, perfect, smiling lips, and over his cheekbones... And he just let her.

Just like always... he always only thought about her. Only about her and her feelings...

He was so...

_'Kami, you are beautiful... So fucking beautiful Shisui...'_

"H-how..." Naruto couldn't even bring herself to finish her question.

"_'A ninja must always expect the unexpected'._" Shisui quoted cheekily.

That startled a watery bark of laughter out of the blonde.

Shisui grinned.

The blonde traced his smiling lips with her thumbs.

"Kami, I missed you." Naruto whimpered, her tears falling down and landing on his skin. Some landed so perfectly, it looked as if Shisui was crying himself.

_'He's here... he's actually... Oh god...'_

She put her head down again, pressing her ear against his chest, and listened to his pulse.

_Ba-bump ba-bump ba-bump._

_'Its strong...' _Naruto marveled.

The blonde sighed, pressing herself even _closer._

She listened to his heartbeat, afraid if she pulled away for just a moment, it would stop again. That Shisui would grow cold, and he would leave her behind all over again.

Naruto wouldn't be able to recover from that.

_'I just can't __bear __it...'_

Going through that pain again...

_'I'm not strong enough...'_

She would kill herself.

She didn't care if she ended up in the darkest pit of hell for it. As long as she didn't have to see Shisui dead again, she'd endure the agony of a thousand hells.

"Shisui please... _please..." _The blonde pleaded feebly.

_'Please... Be real... don't leave me alone again...'_

"Shhh." He hushed her, running his warm hands through her gold locks.

_'Warm...' _Naruto thought, astonished.

It was staggering.

Shisui was _alive._

_'Thank Kami to the ends of time.'_

"I need you..." Naruto murmured weakly. " I'll tell you I love you everyday... _I swear. _Because I do. I love you_ so much._ And... and I'll hug you everytime I see you... so _please _be real. Just... Please... _Don't leave me all alone again._"

"Shhhh, Naruto. I've got you. I'm not going anywhere." Shisui cooed. "I won't leave. I _promise._"

She sat up slightly again, and stared. She couldn't stop her lips from trembling at the sight of him. What could she say, or do at a time like this?

"I love you, Shisui..." Naruto said again, shrugging helplessly.

Shisui just smiled, and reached up to cup her face with his warm _warm_ hands. Naruto loved those hands. She loved everything about him. She just loved _him._

Gently, Shisui brought their lips together, and the blonde almost fell apart again. Because this wasn't like the last time they had kissed. This wasn't a thousand lovely words compressed into a simple touch that could never be unraveled, could never be heard or understood. It wasn't goodbye. And it wasn't so much hello again either.

This was Shisui saying, Naruto, I promised I wouldn't leave you goddamnit so I _won't_. I promised I wouldn't baby, so I _won't_.

And there is no way he would ever know how much his blonde loved him simply for that. Simply for that promise.

Naruto kissed him back, just as softly, her smaller hands sliding around his to tangle their fingers oddly.

When Shisui pulled away, Naruto marveled at the wet sheen in his remaining eye. It was a helpless wetness, that he was too stubborn to let become something.

He shrugged.

"I love you too, Naruto."

He would never know, why that had made Naruto cry so hard.

She wasn't so sure she knew either.

* * *

When Naruto woke up alone in her bed, her heart broke all over again.

_'What a truly cruel world...' _The blonde thought spitefully.

She reached for the kunai she kept on her nightstand, but before she even brushed the metal handle, a hand caught hers.

"Naruto-chan, what are you doing?"

Naruto looked to her right.

Shisui looked at her curiously, his right eye still closed in a relaxed manner, as if he had never had one in there in the first place.

Naruto's breath hitched.

"Whoa!" Shisui yelped, finding himself with an armful of euphoric Naruto.

She buried her nose in the side of his neck, smelling the evidence of a recent shower, and the blonde pressed her lips against her love's pulse.

_'So warm...'_

"Well, looks like someone's having a good morning." Shisui joked.

Naruto just nodded mutely.

_'Shit! Was I about to end it? I need to calm down and __think__.'_

"Naruto?"

"Hmm?" The blonde hummed, content to just bask in his presence.

It had been so _long... _Naruto just wanted to be close to him. To touch him and hold him. She would do this until she knew for sure with everything she was that this was _real._

"I have something to tell you."

Naruto's stomach twisted into knots at the raven's grave tone.

"Don't freak out." Shisui said quickly.

Naruto, astonishingly, obeyed.

Shisui sat down on the edge of Naruto's bed, pulling the blonde into his lap and arranging her so her back rested against his chest.

"You know how I mentioned half of my soul and chakra are in my other eye?"

"Mmhmm..." Naruto said uncertainly.

"Well, the thing is, because Danzo has the eye, that means part of me will eventually die out..."

Naruto's stomach dropped, her throat closed, and her heart-

"Don't do that Naruto." Shisui chided, gently cupping her quaking hands in his larger ones. "Don't panic. Just let me explain, okay?"

Naruto took a deep breath, trying to calm her suddenly erratic pulse.

She nodded.

"Okay... now. My two chakra sources are fighting for the right to exist in this world. One of them will win, and the other one will disappear." Shisui explained, stroking his love's hands comfortingly. "We can stop that, and the possibility that my half won't win if we just get my other eye back. Then I'll be a whole person again, and not half a soul."

"Shi-" Naruto's voice broke. She tried again. "Shisui... how...? How can we do that? Danzo is an elder, so we can't just take it by force. I'll be executed for treason, no matter the reasoning."

"Naruto, I'm sure you've figured the Third isn't the Hokage for just appearances. He can help us. Danzo only has power because Hokage-sama _allows _him to have it. "

"You want to take this to the Old Man?" Naruto asked, craning her neck to look at him skeptically.

"Well, we could avoid a lot of unnecessary conflict and sneaking around if we just go to the only person who can actually oppose Danzo."

"Actually... you're right." Naruto muttered. "Danzo's is as much as a snake as Orochimaru. We can't take him on alone. Jiji is the only one who can literally make him pull up the bandage. Then he can't talk his way out of it. The proof that he has a sharingan will be right there..."

"It's settled then. Lets tell Hokage-sama the situation."

Naruto glanced at her alarm clock.

"Damnit!" The blonde cursed. "It's already past two. He'll be in village related meetings until eight o'clock. Then he'll have paperwork to do..."

"Just tell him tomorrow." Shisui shrugged.

Naruto was amazed. It was truly remarkable how easily she fell back into this. It was like Shisui had never been gone in the first place. It was so easy...

_'Now, all I have to do is make sure he stays. For __good__.'_

"Hey, Naruto-chan?" Shisui called, playing with her fingers, his chin resting atop her head.

"Yes?"

"I remember being released from the seal in crow form, so, I went to the place where you sealed my body. There were still traces of my chakra in my body leaking through the seal, so in crow form I was swallowed. I don't know how long it took, but once my crow form was taken over by my original body, I spent a while trying to get out of the seal." Shisui explained. "I finally did break the seal on my body from the inside, and your house is the first place I came to. You weren't here, obviously, so I waited. It took you a week to get here, so, I have no idea how long I was trying to get out of that seal."

"Well... I was in the hospital almost a month long so... you were stuck trying to get out for three weeks... And the week you waited here would make it nearly a month." Naruto mused.

"Why are bringing this up?" The blonde asked.

"Naruto," Shisui said bleakly, immediately catching her attention. "Don't you think it's strange I waited an entire week for you here when I could've just gone home?"

The blonde's blood ran cold.

"Naruto, did you know, from the Kyuubi's cage, you can see everything on the outside from your eyes?"

Her breath hitched.

"You've been through so much the past year, Naruto..." Shisui whispered into her hair, his hands tightening over hers as he felt them begin to quiver. "I'm so sorry for the burden Itachi and I left you with..."

Shisui... He knew... _everything. _

"It must have been so painful... bearing everything all alone..."

She broke.

Shisui hushed her, releasing her hands so he could shift her around in his arms to face him, and embrace her.

Naruto stared up at Shisui's solemn face, feeling helpless as she watched a single tear trickle out of his eye.

_'I'm not the only one who was bearing pain all alone...'_

"Oh Shisui..." Naruto murmured.

"Shhh. No... Just let me hold you right now, Naruto." The Uchiha shook his head, and gathered his love tightly in his arms.

Naruto squeezed back fiercely.

"Everyone's dead..." Shisui choked.

_'No... __No__. This isn't right...! It'll be different this time! It's not about me... my pain isn't the only thing that matters... He needs me to comfort him right now... So, I will. Because Shisui __matters__.'_

Naruto pulled back, feeling awful at Shisui's crushed expression.

Naruto shook her head, and stood up. She took hold of either side of his face and just looked at him. Blonde brows furrowed in worry.

He looked so lost...

Naruto wished she could take his pain away...

She couldn't, though.

So, the blonde settled for pushing his head into her breast, angling it so his ear was over her heart, and she wrapped her arms around his head, burying her fingers in his messy ebony locks.

"Shhh baby I got you..." Naruto whispered. She held on tighter when she felt his shoulders begin to shake, and he fisted the back of her hospital gown.

"Shisui, I'll be your home..." The blonde promised.

Shisui released a muffled sob. Naruto just held him, and whispered promises to him.

"Just let it out..." The blonde murmured. "I got you... Shisui... and I'll never let go..."

Naruto would tell The Third everything tomorrow.

After the Chunin Exams.

Right now, nothing was more important than Shisui.

* * *

**For the record, yes, Kyuubi, Murmur, and Shisui could see everything through Naruto's eyes. But, only Murmur could hear her thoughts, being the same person and all...**

**'Kay, tootles.**


	23. Finals, Chunin Exam

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy.**

* * *

Naruto and Shisui decided it was best for him to stay at her place until the Chunin Exams were over, and then Naruto would bring the Third over to show him the situation. He always had a soft spot for her, so he wouldn't protest much as long as she offered to help him with his paperwork.

The blonde had on a new set of combat clothes. Easy to move around in combat with a Hyuga. Because if this Neji person could beat Hinata, he was bloody good. It was a common misconception among the rookies to think Hinata was weak. But Naruto had always known. Hinata was kind. Even somewhat faintly willed. But... _Not _weak. She just never wanted to hurt anybody, not even the people that treated her like a stain on the earth.

But, if Hinata's tone was anything to go by, Neji had beaten her like they were strangers.

And that was disgraceful. If there was anything Naruto treasured, it was family, and the bonds created with family.

Naruto would show him.

Hyuuga prodigy her _ass._

The blonde was garbed in a coral orange off the shoulders top above a mesh sleeveless turtle neck, a white bandage skirt with black stripes, and thigh high, open toed, black ninja boots.

"Oooh~ Getting all dressed up for me are you?" Shisui teased, coming out of the bathroom with wet hair, bare chested, and in a pair of dark blue boxers under the black sweatpants hanging low on his hips.

Naruto blushed furiously.

"They're _combat _clothes." She emphasized.

Shisui smirked.

"You look hot." He winked.

Naruto sputtered.

Just came back to life and he _still _didn't know when to quit.

Naruto came back to herself, watching her Uchiha grin, and behind her bangs, she smiled.

_'God I missed him so much...'_

"I'll be back." She said, then, frowned slightly. "And don't..."

"I'm not going anywhere baby. I'll be here." Shisui assured.

The blonde's heart swelled with warmth.

"Okay," Naruto smiled fondly again. "I'm off, Shisui. See you later."

She waved goodbye, turning around, only to squeak with fright as she came face to face with the Uchiha.

"Shisui!" Naruto squawked, smacking him indignantly on the chest. "Don't shunshin in the house!"

"You forgot something, Naruto-chan." Shisui said innocently.

"Really...?" Confused, the blonde looked down at herself.

Nope. Her kunai pouch was strapped to her left leg and her shuriken pouch around her hips... She still had Shisui's tanto strapped across her back and she assumed Sasuke was in possession of her katana.

She remembered having it before the preliminaries, and she knew the younger genin had visited her at least once in the hospital. He'd always been fond of her blade, and the blonde knew he'd take any chance he could get to get his hands on it. But, there was no way Shisui could possibly be talking about that. So what _was _it?

The blonde looked up into a mischievous, single midnight eye, baffled.

"What am I missing?"

"You can't leave without giving me my proper goodbye." The Uchiha pouted.

"What are you on about?" Naruto huffed. "I said see you later."

Shisui smirked again.

"Where's my goodbye kiss?"

Naruto flushed.

"You're not going to say no are you?" Shisui whined childishly. "A whole year and we never even got to kiss properly..."

Naruto's tummy fluttered.

_'Why... why is he asking me to do that __**now**__? Jeez, I'm gonna be gray before my boobs even fully come in.'_

But, the blonde promised herself things would be different. She wasn't going to lie to herself anymore... she had already admitted to being in love with Shisui. So... kissing him... that just came with the territory. And, if the blonde was going to be bold, she _wanted _to kiss him... she was just sort of shy about it...

"U-umm... okay..." Naruto fidgeted nervously.

Shisui's eye bulged.

"What? _Seriously? _Naru, I was only teasing!"

"Wh-whatever... Just c'mere!" The blonde huffed, tomato faced.

Shisui was obviously pleasantly surprised, as he was kind of smiling, and kind of looking incredulous, but he ducked his head anyways so they were face to face.

Naruto slid her hands through his wet, perpetually styled bed head, and went on her tip toes.

She stared into his eye, searching. For what, she didn't know, and he stared right back.

"I love you, Shisui."

It was remarkable, how easy those four words came to her, how she could speak them with no qualms at all, when before she could barely glance at him when he smiled at her.

_'Though, it was always easy, wasn't it?' _Naruto pondered wryly. _'I've always loved him, I just made it hard for myself... How could I have been so blind?'_

Naruto pressed their lips together, red faced, and she immediately pulled away to scurry out the front door.

The blonde's inner confidence was still difficult to show outwardly. She loved Shisui, more than anything ever, but she was still new to being honest about her feelings. Hiding, and running away, were sadly second nature.

"Later!" She squeaked.

"No~ope~" Shisui sang, grabbing her hand, and pulling her back into his chest.

It was a nice chest.

And those were nice abs.

And those pants were hanging kind of low on those hips...

No.

_Stop._

_'Bad Naruto!' _The blonde berated herself. _'Bad! Those are very bad thoughts...'_

Naruto's breath hitched when a gentle finger tilted her chin higher. The blonde was forced to stare into a mirthfully twinkling black eye. Not that she really minded...

"And I love you too baby."

Haah... Oh my...

Naruto's knees turned to jelly. Wow... he was just... wow... Natural sweet talker this one, wasn't he?

"That wasn't a real kiss though." Shisui murmured. "I'll teach you how to kiss me, Naru-chan..."

The blonde's stomach did impressive backflips.

Shisui closed the distance between them, holding the weak kneed blonde up, and slanting his lips over his love's for a sweet, warm kiss.

His hand cupped her cheek, and Naruto sighed, her eyes falling closed, wrapping her arms around his neck. The blonde pressed against the Uchiha even _closer,_ feeling the raven smile against her mouth. Shisui sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling on it playfully. He hummed when Naruto huffed slightly, soothing the hurt with his tongue. When he pulled back, Naruto's tongue slid after his, the two appendages sliding against each other in an almost lazy dance.

When Naruto needed to breathe, having embarrassingly forgotten to, they separated, but not by much, their breaths mingling hotly.

Shisui stared at her mouth, running the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip.

"Kiss me like that." The Uchiha murmured.

"Okay..." Naruto breathed, cloudy eyed.

Shisui chuckled, and pecked her lips again.

"See you later, Sunshine."

Still on her Uchiha induced high, Naruto nodded, waving goodbye absently, and leaving out her front door.

"Later, Ero-Uchiha."

Fond laughter followed behind her.

* * *

"Naruto, why is your face so red?" Shikamaru asked, he, the blonde, and the rest of the remaining chunin hopefuls were standing in the third Exam arena.

"I-it's not!" She squawked, huffing irritably when the lazy Nara gave her a flat look.

"Why do you care anyways? Just shut up lazy ass!"

"You don't gotta get so defensive." Shikamaru grumbled. "I was just asking a question..."

"Oh quiet you two." Sakura snarked, having had enough. "More importantly, where is Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto scoffed.

"Kakashi-sensei probably dragged him out in the middle of nowhere to train and is just now making his way here. And knowing our Sensei, it'll take a while."

Sakura snorted in agreement.

"That baka-sensei, who does he think he is making my Sasuke-kun late!? _SHANNARO_!"

Naruto simply shook her head.

"Alright brats, my name is Genma Shiranui!" A chestnut haired man with hazel eyes and a senbon between his lips called, catching the genin's attention as he poofed in front of them. "I'm the new proctor for the third and final Exam."

Confusion swept over some of the genin, others couldn't be bothered to wonder where Hayate was.

Naruto frowned.

She hadn't noticed before but... there was a lot of negativity spilling out of the stands above the arena. It was a tense sort of negativity, the kind that told you something really big was going to happen. This was the shit hitting the fan, right before one walked into the room and slipped in the mess.

_'The last time I felt this many bad vibes... the Uchiha were planning to coup...' _Naruto thought. _'Kami damn it to hell... something's wrong...'_

"-so, moving on, everyone else go wait in the stands except for Neji Hyuga and Naruto Uzumaki." Genma announced.

_'Oh crap! Stop spacing out Naruto! Get your head in the game!' _The blonde scolded herself.

"Alright, first match is Neji vs. Naruto. I want a clean match. It won't end until one of you is either dead, incapacitated, or I say stop. Got it?" The senbon chewing man drawled.

Two sharp nods were his only response.

"Great, now begin."

The two genin stared each other down, eyes sharp and unforgiving.

Neji smirked.

"You should just give up." He called haughtily. "Fate already decrees me the winner. A loser like you could never hope to even wipe the dirt from my sandals. If you insist upon this foolishness, I will be forced to show you your fate as a loser."

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"I don't believe in fate."

"Even so, it does not change the fact that you are nothing, and will never defeat me. For I, was born a prodigy, and you, a dead last. We are on completely different planes of existence." The long haired boy stated.

"Prodigy?" Naruto echoed bitterly. "Is that why you nearly had to beat Hinata to death to get her to stay down? Because you're a _prodigy? _If you ask me, you're nothing but an arrogant, blind, and pathetic little _fool._"

Neji's face became ugly with rage, byakugan swelling to life in his ethereal white eyes.

"I refuse to hear that from a no name dobe like _you!_"

"Then shut me up Hyuuga _prodigy_." Naruto mocked venomously. "Come over here and try and kill me with that petty rage, just like you did Hinata."

"Shut _up!_" Neji roared, darting at the blonde, right palm extended in his clan's deadly taijutsu form.

Naruto didn't do anything until the last possible second.

She watched the angry Hyuga's blue glowing finger tips until they were a mere _inch _from her heart.

_'He immediately resorts to attempted murder when things don't go his way... Disgraceful.'_

She shunshined.

The blonde had spent countless hours training, trying to achieve Shisui's expertise in the art of shunshin. She still was not as fast as him, but she was pretty damn close.

She appeared behind Neji, only for the Hyuga to whirl around fluidly, yet quickly.

He batted away the monstrous kick the blonde sent towards the back of his skull with his right hand. A burst of blue discharged into the air as their chakra met.

The following chains of taijutsu between the two genin were absolutely brutal.

Neji was fluid and efficient.

Naruto was quick and ruthless.

"**Rotation**!" Neji called out, spinning his body around rapidly when the blonde launched nine kunai at him. They were all propelled away by the glowing, spinning, blue ball of chakra surrounding the brown haired Hyuga.

When he stopped, Naruto was upon him in an instant, flashing through handseals.

"**Wind Style: Fist Of The Wind God**!"

Wind chakra exploded over the blonde's left fist, and she sent it at the Hyuga's face who simply batted it away, his fingertips taking out the tenketsu in her arm, cutting off the chakra flow. Neji immediately followed up with a palm thrust to the blonde's face, but she just grabbed his wrist, and snapped it like a twig, the heel of her free hand slamming into his chin.

"**Fuuinjutsu Style: Oculory Darkness**."

Neji howled in pain, black markings scuttling across the skin of his face and forcing his Byakugan to shut down. The spectators above winced at the sound of his breaking bone, and the Hyuga stumbled back.

Naruto flashed behind him, roundhousing his back and sending him flying several feet forwards. He crashed gracelessly on his chin, biting his tongue so hard he nearly severed it. The Hyuga slid to a painful stop on his face.

Naruto casually walked towards him, as if she wasn't beating the stuffing out of the notorious Hyuga prodigy.

"What's the matter prodigy? I thought I was nothing?" The blonde called. "Aren't I not even worthy enough to clean your sandals? Weren't you going to show me my fate as a loser?"

She stopped about four feet away from the Hyuga's crumpled form.

She watched impassively as he stumbled to his feet, looking around in literal blind rage, cradling his limp wrist, and his chin already forming an ugly purple bruise, snarling mouth trickling ribbons of crimson.

"What have you done, you witch!" He screamed. "My eyes! You ruined my eyes!"

"Relax drama queen. It'll wear off in about an hour. I didn't pump much chakra into that seal." The blonde informed him carelessly.

The Hyuga glared in her direction, his head tilted a bit awkwardly at his lack of sight. Though, he noticeably was relieved to find he wasn't permanently blind.

"How... how are you able to hit me...? how can you... _you...!_"

'_It's actually kind of sad.'_ Naruto thought.

He was really honest to Kami baffled.

"I'm willing to bet you've never lost a fight before." Naruto spoke up, pretending she didn't notice him gathering chakra. "But, you know what? That doesn't mean shit out here. You beat them because you were a better fighter, and perhaps that mean mug of yours had something to do with it... but, me? Heh. I just so happen to be better than you."

"You're trash!" Neji snarled. "You're not better than me!"

He tore at Naruto recklessly, forcing himself into her guard, and she just let him. In rapid succession, Neji closed several tenketsu on the blonde's arms, finishing it with a double palm thrust to her chest.

Naruto flew back, crashing onto the ground and parting a path through the earth as she slid.

She coughed up red.

"Naruto!" Sakura bellowed from above. "Why did you just stand there!? Get _up!_ FIGHT!"

Naruto ignored her pink haired teammate. She had something she needed to prove. And Neji wasn't going to get it until she broke him and his ideals into tiny little pieces.

Neji staggered over to the blonde, following the sound of her wheezing breaths, and loomed over her still form as she stared skyward, blood on her chin.

"Someone like you could never understand what I go through." Neji spat. "You weren't branded with a seal that you never asked for, you aren't treated like _nothing _for something you have no control over, such as simply being born!"

"What do you know about _me?_" Naruto asked quietly, eyes still unblinking.

"That's just the thing though, isn't it? You don't know _shit _about me. You don't know what I've been through. You don't know what I've had to do simply to survive. And you don't care. But I'm not asking you to."

Naruto chuckled humorously.

"Tell me something mister prodigy... Have you ever been _so_ hungry you tried to kill yourself because you couldn't _stand _the taste of garbage anymore?" The blonde demanded. "Have you ever robbed people so you could buy a new fucking pair of _underwear? _Have you ever had to live in slums? Trust me, you don't_ want _to. Its vile."

The Hyuga opened his mouth, but Naruto clipped him off.

"Tell me, have you ever just been a seven year old fucking _kid, _walking in on a man raping the body of a woman he just strangled to death? Huh? Just 'cause you were out looking for a chair someone threw out, so you could sit at your stolen table like a goddamn civilized human _being? Well? _Have you?"

Neji just gawked.

But Naruto?

Heh.

She was far from done.

"Have you ever been beaten within an_ inch _of your life for something that was not only not your fault, but at the time, you didn't even know _why_? Did you wonder why you were the only kid walking home alone after school, or if your parents were dead, or if they just ditched you 'cause they thought you were a monster like everyone else? Did you become the monster everyone expected you to be because you didn't know what else to do?"

Naruto dragged herself to her feet and glowered scathingly at the paling Hyuga.

"Have you ever had to bury the one person you loved more than anything, without ever telling them how much you loved them before it was too late?"

Neji didn't answer.

"Don't preach to me about fate, asshole." Naruto growled. "If that shit really existed, I'd either be a whore, a murderer, or dead. So shut the fuck up. If you really believed in it to, would you be fighting, and training so hard everyday?"

"Wh-what?" Neji said intelligently.

"You say fate is set in stone?" Naruto sighed, wiping the blood from her chin with her forearm. "Then why do you try so hard to be the best? Hmm? If you believed fate was set, you wouldn't oppose the main branch by trying to be the best. You would be trying to protect Hinata, not beating her down and belittling her every chance you get."

"What do you know?" Neji snapped, coming back to himself.

"I know that by the way she speaks of you, Hinata cares. She cares about you. And those all seeing eyes of yours are blind to the fact that you haven't lost everyone who loves you, because I know for a _fact _Hinata loves you like a brother."

Then, the arena flooded with burnt orange chakra.

As quickly as it came, it was gone.

"D-did you just..."

"Reopen my tenketsu?" Naruto finished dryly. "Yeah. What of it?"

"B-but _how...!?_" Neji sputtered. "That should be impossible!"

"_Should _be. But I told you. I became a monster. And I never went back to the way I was."

* * *

Up in the stands, Hinata stood with her fellow Leaf genin, acting as support. But she had her hands over her mouth, trying to muffle her sobs as Naruto's words brought tears to her eyes.

"Holy crap…" Kiba breathed. "Did Naruto really have all that stuff happen to her…?"

Everyone turned to Sakura, who had gone sheet white, green eyes wide with horror.

The blue haired Hyuga was the first to look away, knowing Sakura knew nothing about Naruto. But Hinata did… she didn't know the exact extent to the horrors of Naruto's earlier youth, but she knew the blonde was ignored. Mistreated. Hated. _Ridiculed._

'_Oh Naruto...'_ Hinata thought sadly. _'Y-you… you would really let everyone hear this… just to teach Neji something… and all for my sake...'_

The gentle Hyuga looked back to the arena, watching as her new blonde haired friend strode over to Neji, whose face was still covered in seals.

"You are within my field of divination." Neji announced, smirking.

Hinata paled.

'_Oh no…!'_

* * *

"Whatever. You've already lost,_ prodigy_." Naruto scoffed. "I don't know if you've noticed, but, I'm kind of good with seals. And obviously those nine kunai wouldn't have hit you. So, why did I throw them?"

Neji's blind eyes widened.

_Poof, poof, poof, poof, poof, poof, poof, poof, poof!_

"Kage Bunshin?" Shikamaru muttered, impressed.

Naruto lazily went through a ridiculous amount of hand seals.

Her kunai turned bunshin surrounded Neji, running through the same hand seals, but, at a much faster rate as they did so.

"When I was born, you want to know what I got?" Naruto asked the silently panicking Neji.

"I-I... I can't move!" Neji exclaimed.

"What?" Naruto questioned flatly. "You think the only thing I sealed off was your sight? Pffft. You must think I'm some kind of amature! I smashed a stun array onto your chin the same time that I blinded you. I'm activating it just now because it's the most convenient time to do it."

'_Amazing…' _Asuma thought.

'_She can use multiple seals at once?'_ Guy wondered._ 'How impressively youthful…'_

'_What a frightening young woman...' _Kurenai thought, pleased.

The bunshin finished their hand seals before the original Naruto, slamming their hands into the ground. They dispelled, blue beams of chakra igniting in their places. The beams screamed, tails of flame dancing at their ends, their positions forming a crescent around Neji, Naruto standing in front of him.

"This is what I got when I was born," Naruto drawled.

"_Ichi…_" She sang, one of the pillars blew out like a supernova, chains bursting from the brilliant light and snaking around Neji's vulnerable ankles.

"_Ni_."

Another pillar blew out.

"_San._"

The crowd shielded their eyes.

"_Yon._"

Another.

"_Go._"

Another.

"_Roku_."

Chains swarmed Neji's form.

"_Nana_."

The Third's face grew grim.

"_Hachi._" Naruto sang.

"_Kyu_-"

"Naruto." The Third warned, startling everyone at his deathly serious tone.

Naruto smiled, almost sadly.

"The Power of Human Sacrifice…" Naruto informed Neji, all the pillars gone. "That's what I got."

She finally finished her hand seals, slamming her hand against the earth, seals crawling across the ground and stretching towards Neji.

"**Fuuinjutsu Style: Chain Coffin. Eternal Punishment of The Damned**."

Neji screamed as the chains around him tightened mercilessly, threatening to crush his bones slowly and painfully.

"I will teach you what it truly means to suffer. Binded by nine deadly burdens of chakra. You will understand what it means to be sacrificed." Naruto stated coldly.

Silence.

There was a long, nearly unbearable moment of pure silence.

"_Naruto…! NO!_"

The blonde looked up at Hinata as Neji passed out from shock.

She smiled.

"I'm not being serious." The blonde assured her, as if to emphasize her words, the chains slithered away from Neji, causing him to fall in dead weight to the ground.

"I wouldn't do something like that." Naruto said, but then, smirked deviously. "Besides, I think that giant ice stick up his ass causes him enough suffering. Don't you think, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata released a startled giggle, but nodded anyways, shocking her fellow rookies and everyone else.

Naruto grinned.

"Heh."

"Umm…" Genma said awkwardly. "That was kind of anticlimactic."

"Meh." The blonde shrugged. "I still won."

"True." The senbon chewing Jounin agreed. "Whelp, winner by… knockout...? Naruto Uzumaki!"

The Leaf genin, and surprisingly the Jounin and some civilians erupted into cheers.

"Aw stop you guys," Naruto blushed, scuffing the ground with her sandal.

Just then, a swirl of leaves interrupted Naruto's awesome victory, revealing two people standing back to back.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI, YOU GUYS ARE _WAY_ LATE!" Sakura screamed. "YOU MISSED NARUTO'S AWESOME FIGHT, _**SHANNARO**_!"

"Maa maa, sorry. Sasuke had explosive diarrhea and we were in the desert, so I had to use an earth jutsu to make a hole for him to go in, and when the poor kid was finished, I was fresh out of chakra. So we had to walk all the way back." Kakashi lied.

Guy smacked his forehead at his rival's stupidity.

"YOU LIAR!" Ino screeched. "Sasuke-kun is too perfect to poop! And plus, if you were out of chakra, how come you guys showed up with a leaf shunshin?!"

The rest of the debate was promptly ignored.

Naruto gave Sasuke a flat look, seeing her katana was at his side.

"Thief." She snarked.

"Finders keepers. It's not like you could use it right anyways, loser." Sasuke sneered back.

"Whatever. You so stole it while I was in the hospital." Naruto snorted. "And we both know I'm way better at kenjutsu than you could ever hope to be, shithead."

Sasuke bristled for a moment, but let the insults go easily enough.

"Also, if you lose your match while wearing my blade, I'll cut your little dick off."

More than Sasuke paled at that threat.

"Hn." The Uchiha grunted, trying to look like that image hadn't disturbed him, and he wasn't insulted by the jab at his manhood. "Whatever, loser. I'm not you. I'll win this."

"Pfft. _Loser? _I beat Neji's ass." Naruto scoffed, motioning to the guys just_ now_ carrying the bruised and broken Hyuga away on a stretcher.

They shared a smirk.

"Don't lose." Naruto muttered.

"I won't." Sasuke promised.

The blonde walked off, Kakashi following her lead after Genma snapped at them to beat it.

In the stairwell, Naruto and Kakashi stiffened at the pungent scent of blood. Gaara walked past them, the epitome of stoicism, despite the fact that blood soaked sand was still crawling back into his gourd.

"Kyuubi." Gaara called blankly, stopping just as he passed the blonde.

"We are the same."

Naruto stiffened.

_'Well, at least now I know why he felt familiar even though we've never met...'_

"I am the Ichibi." Gaara stated. "Mother wants your blood... And she shall have it... after the Uchiha's."

Gaara continued walking as if nothing had happened.

Naruto scowled.

"We'll see little tanuki." The blonde growled, ignoring Kakashi-sensei's concerned onyx eye.

She continued on her own path, opposite of the insomniac redhead, ignoring the two lumps of disfigured bones and human organs reduced to stains on the floor.

"We'll see..."


	24. End, Chunin Exams

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy.**

* * *

Naruto glanced around, feeling a familiar, and despicable negative presence somewhere outside of the arena. It seemed to only be observing the Chunin Exams, but Naruto knew with the bad vibes coming off the place from the older ninja, that shit was going to go down. And soon.

She pursed her lips grimly.

_'I have a feeling I won't be telling the old man about Shisui anytime soon...'_

"Naruto...?"

The blonde turned to her left, brought out her bleak musings by Hinata's timid voice.

"Hmmm?" Naruto hummed.

"A-are you o-okay?"

The blonde smiled.

Hinata blushed.

"Aw you're so cute Hinata-chan!" The blonde gushed, pulling the Hyuga into a snuggly hug and making her faint.

Kurenai scowled at her disapprovingly.

"Heh... gomen ne." The blonde said sheepishly.

Sakura, who was to her right, gave her a flat look.

"Since when are you two all buddy buddy?"

"When will you stop being so flat chested?" Naruto shot back.

Kiba and Ino began guffawing.

"Oh shut up Ino-pig!" Sakura screeched, tomato faced. "You're just as flat as I am!"

Kiba was the only one laughing after that.

"It's not like I was the only one laughing Billboard-brow!"

Naruto ignored the impending argument between the two banshees, slyly fist bumping Kakashi-sensei who was standing behind her.

"Nice." The enigma snickered.

"Thanks." The blonde grinned.

Naruto was able to push thoughts of the negative presence to the back of her mind.

She would deal with it later.

"U-umm... what...?" Hinata muttered, slowly coming to.

"Welcome back Hina-chan!" Naruto beamed.

"E-eep!"

Hinata promptly slumped in her arms again.

"Alright y'all. Nice clean match." Genma called, dragging everyone's attention to the plane below. "Nobody wins unless one of you is dead, incapacitated, or I say stop. Got it?"

Hinata thankfully didn't faint when she woke again, and shuffled awkwardly out of Naruto's embrace. Though, she stayed close to her new friend. Sakura and Ino stopped arguing, and watched in excited silence for what was to come.

"And don't do nothin' stupid ya hear?" The senbon chewing man warned, shooting a look at the redhead.

When Genma was ignored, he rolled his eyes, muttering about not being paid enough to deal with disrespectful brats.

"Begin!"

Sasuke began immediately, pulling out six shuriken, three in each of his hands, and launched them at Gaara, running through hands seals with a speed he gained through training with Naruto.

"**Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu**!"

The Uchiha pelted out six fireballs, his weapons catching flame, only to meet a wall of sand.

Gaara hadn't even moved, his arms were crossed, smoking shuriken lodged in the sand that instinctively rose to protect him.

"Tch." Sasuke grunted as the attack failed.

Sakura deflated.

Naruto knew better.

The strings attached to the shuriken gleamed in the sunlight as Sasuke shifted.

Naruto smiled proudly.

_'Clever Sasuke...' _

He brought them up to his mouth, biting down and completing more hand seals.

"**Fire Style: Snake Scald Jutsu**." He muttered.

Jets of flame slithered out of the Uchiha's lips, down the ninja wire he placed there, and raced to the wall of sand.

Gaara was forced to uncross his arms as the flames sent his sand hissing with heat.

The red head gestured almost lazily, his sand following his commands to shield him at every turn.

Sasuke spat out the wires, dashing over to the tanuki boy and blurring behind him, spitting out another fireball.

"GO SASUKE-KUN!" Ino yelled.

"Quiet! Troublesome woman." Shikamaru grumbled.

"Hmph!" The ash blonde grumped.

Sand rose up to shield Gaara's back, and as the two elements met, Sasuke's flame was pumped with so much chakra, it was tinged blue.

Crackling filled the air.

Sand turned to glass.

Sasuke drew Naruto's katana, charging it with lighting chakra.

The blade sang with power.

The Uchiha swung the blade through the large wall of glass he created, cleaving it in two.

Seafoam eyes widened, sand stopping the blade that made to split his skull in half from above.

"You are fast." Gaara observed. "Like the green one. But speed alone will not keep mother from having your blood."

"Oof!" Sasuke was forced back by a huge sand arm straining with blue veins, it slammed him into the arena far wall, Gaara gesturing for a second arm to raise from the agitated sand swirling at his feet.

"Sasuke-kun get out of there!" Sakura blurted.

"Shut up!" Naruto barked, making her teammate flinch. "He needs to concentrate. And you yelling at him every other second won't help him."

Sakura's shoulders slumped, but she didn't argue, knowing the blonde was right, and not trying to be mean or bossy. She wanted Sasuke to win and be okay just as much of the pinkette did.

Sakura bit her lips.

She would be quiet.

Below, Sasuke scowled, using Naruto's katana to bisect the arm pinning him. It collapsed into tiny grains at his feet. The Uchiha split the other arm like a sausage as it flew at him, the katana's blade facing away from him, both of his hands wrapped around the hilt. The arm was parted, sand blasting behind and into the wall on either side of the raven.

Using chakra, he forced himself away from the wall, soaring over the tendrils of earth forming spikes below and attempting to skewer him.

Somersaulting, Sasuke charged his right hand with lighting chakra, and the sword with fire.

_'Two elements at once? My my. Itachi... if only you could see our little brother now... you would be so proud...'_

Landing perfectly, the Uchiha took off towards Gaara, melting into a black blur, flames and sparks of silver trailing behind him.

There was the occasional flash of gold as the flaming blade sliced through pillars of sand erecting from the ground.

Gaara's eyes became somewhat frantic as the Uchiha drew more and more near.

Everyone gaped at what Sasuke did next.

Naruto paled.

_'Kakashi-sensei, you bafoon! You taught a mentally unstable twelve year old an __**assassination **__technique to defeat an even __**MORE **__mentally unstable twelve year old!?'_

"_Chidori!_"

The chirping of one thousand birds screamed through the arena, and blazing flames froze the sand around the tanuki to glass as Sasuke stabbed Naruto's katana through the ground.

Silence.

Naruto was officially sheet white.

Gaara began screaming.

Wide eyed, Sasuke tore his arm from Gaara's shoulder, blood spewing out after him, bones creaking in protest.

The Third created a kage bunshin, and it quickly shunshined to who knows where.

The hidden negative presence followed the clone.

"MY BLOOD!" Gaara wailed hysterically. "IT'S MY BLOOD! MOTHER HELP ME! I'M LEAKING! HELP! ITS **BLOOD**! MY_ BLOOOOOOOD!_"

"Fuck!" Naruto cursed.

She drew her tanto, resisting the genjutsu that fell over the stadium in the form of drifting white feathers.

Her peers and the surrounding civilians drifted off from the jutsu's affect.

_'Things are escalating way to freaking fast!' _The blonde thought frantically.

Gaara was quickly becoming an abomination below, sand pouring out of his gourd and melding against his skin. The sclera of his left eye swelled with black, the pupil reforming gold irises with a black four pointed star as the pupil.

Sasuke stumbled back away from him in horror as the redhead roared in manic rage, shattering the glass surrounding him to pitiful little shards.

Naruto whipped around, slitting the throat of the sound nin that leapt at her back.

He fell back, red spilling out around him in a thick puddle.

The blonde chucked her tanto into the forehead of a Sand nin going for the slumped Sakura at high speeds.

He too, fell. Staining the floor with crimson.

Naruto bit her tongue, spitting the blood that instantly poured into her mouth onto the floor. She quickly drew a seal on the floor with her foot.

"**Fuuinjutsu Style, Forbidden Art: Three Fragment Soul Split**!"

Naruto's hand glowed orange with Kyuubi's chakra, and she placed it at the head of the seal. Hateful chakra burst up from around her, two red eyed, feral looking clones dragged themselves from the ground glowing beneath her feet.

The original Naruto lost all color in her skin as she forced her soul to split into three fragments.

It was impossible to dispel these clones. Because technically, they _were _the blonde. As they had souls, they would not disappear unless the original body reformed her soul, or died. And, enhanced with the fox's chakra, they were even _stronger._

One of the Naruto clones vaulted over the railing, and shunshined to Sasuke's side below.

Gaara had fallen into hysterical laughter, and Sand and Sound nin were in combat with Leaf nin.

Gaara hopped onto the Hokage box with a simple, yet great leap, and took off towards the forest, destroying anything and anyone in his path.

Sasuke and Naruto's soul clone took off after him.

Orochimaru had The Third in his hold from behind.

Well... his remaining arm held a kunai to the old man's neck from behind, Naruto took pleasure at the deadened black stump that she had reduced the other to.

Sakura and Hinata were the first of the genin to come to, their faces blanching at the utter chaos the stadium was in.

The blonde retrieved her tanto, Sakura wincing at the sound of metal sliding through bone and brain matter.

_Shhhhhulk!_

"Protect the civilians." Naruto barked, flicking red from her blade, and sheathing it.

Sakura nodded, too frantic with nerves to be indignant about being ordered around.

Hinata went a bit green, but otherwise, her face showed her complete determination to fight.

No... to _protect. _

"Hinata-chan." Naruto said seriously.

"Y-yes, Naruto-chan?"

"Please do your best, and protect what is important."

"Y-yes! I will!" The gentle Hyuga vowed.

The blonde turned away, her eyes narrowing as Orochimaru shunshined, forcing The Third to go with him above the kage box.

"What w-will you d-do, Naruto-chan?" The gentle Hyuga asked.

"My duty." Naruto answered cryptically.

Her second soul clone followed the Third and the snake.

The original blonde shunshined above the stadium roof, becoming a blur of yellow as she took off, knowing she only had about an hour before her fragmented soul collapsed, due to not being able to handle the Kyuubi's presence without the rest of her soul.

She stopped above someone's house, ignoring the sound of the village wall crumbling, the hissing of giant snake summons, the screams of innocents, and jutsu being fired.

She focused on the presence she had sensed nearby during the start of Sasuke's match.

Blue eyes snapped open.

_'There...!'_

Naruto flickered, and reappeared above the Hokage tower.

She used another Fuuinjutsu that allowed her to sink through the floor, ending up in the center of the Third's office.

The negativity in the room was at it's absolute peak in the Hokage's chair, which was facing the village view, turned away from the blonde.

"This... this _chair_ should have been mine from the start." The person in the chair stated.

"This _village_ should be _mine_. Sarutobi has always been _weak. _Too peace loving and faint hearted for his own, and the village's damn good."

Naruto glowered.

"Is that why you didn't tell anyone you knew about the invasion?" Naruto growled. "Because you're hoping Orochimaru will kill the Old Man, so you can snatch up that chair for yourself?"

"Clever Uzumaki." The person mocked. "How did you know I knew of the invasion?"

"I didn't." Naruto admitted. "But you just told me you did, you _sick_ _**bastard**__._"

"My my, even more clever than I expected. You continue to surprise me, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto scoffed.

"I'm not surprised at all." She spoke acidly. "I always knew you were a rotten old fucker, Danzo."

"Heh." Danzo chuckled hollowly. "Let's end this then, shall we?"

"My pleasure." Naruto spat.

The chair slowly spun around.

Naruto tensed.

_Creeeeeeeeeak..._

It was empty.

Breath hitching, Naruto whipped around.

"Too late, little Jinchuuriki."

Naruto stared up at the slit that was Danzo's left eye, the other one was free too, a familiar mangekyou eye bare to the world, bandages coiling loosely around the corrupt elder's neck.

Naruto's mouth fell open.

Danzo's original eye slowly slid open, revealing a cold black iris staring soullessly into her own.

She looked back down, at Danzo's arm, shoved right through her gut, protruding all the wall through her body; sunken into her flesh elbow deep.

Crimson spilled out of her mouth.

"U-ugh!" Naruto coughed.

"Don't worry," Danzo said conversationally, twisting his arm around in her innards, eliciting a shattering scream of pain from the blonde.

"You are too valuable of a weapon to dispose of due to mere insolence. So I will not kill you. But, you will learn to obey me. And when you wake up, that fool Sarutobi will finally be dead, I, rightfully Hokage, and your memories of this chat of ours erased."

"Y-you sonofabitch..." Naruto rasped, sweat lining her brows.

Danzo smiled cruelly.

"Y-you won't get away with thi-_ugh!_" Naruto cut herself off, more globules of blood oozing from her lips as Dazo squeezed something within her.

"Silence pet." Danzo ordered. "Be silent and accept your fate."

Gritting her teeth, she spoke so clearly and confidently, she knew she startled the elder for a sliver of a second. But he was too confident in his own abilities to notice follies until it was too late.

"I don't believe in fate."

Naruto stared straight into Shisui's eye, and the Hokage's office fell away.

**"What's this?" **The Kyuubi drawled, staring with vermillion eyes at the blonde and the bandaged old man standing before his cage.

**"The jailor has finally come to visit me. Perhaps to beg for more of my chakra? Heh. Amusing... But, she brings another little ape along with her. Why?"**

"What...?" Danzo questioned. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Kyuubi," Naruto called, ignoring the cripple. "I came to give you something. But, for a price..."

**"Continue, human. You have peaked my interest."**

"I'll let you destroy this disgusting old man's mind, if you keep him in here long enough for me to kill him." The Uzumaki said, dead serious.

The Kyuubi chuckled deeply.

**"You are not like the little wretch to whom you banished to my cage. You are... so much more... **_**ruthless."**_

"Being weak never did me any good." The blonde admitted, staring up with a complete lack of fear.

The beast seemed to notice Naruto's confidence was not arrogant, and she held no shame for asking for his help. The Fox appreciated her strong will.

_**"**_**That ruthlessness... ****I like it." **Kyuubi rumbled.

Naruto rose a perfect brow, waiting with a patience she didn't know herself capable of for the Fox's response.

** "Very well, little jailor. I will do you this favor, just this once for such a boring reward."**

"Thanks." Naruto grinned wickedly.

She turned to face Danzo, perplexed by the fact that he hadn't said anything about the nature of her conversation with the fox.

She looked back at the Kyuubi, noticing his menacing perpetual snarl had a more amused tilt to it.

She looked back at Danzo again, who was being smothered by Kyuubi's chakra, the scalding red-orange energy forcing it's way down his throat.

**"Go on." **The fox goaded maliciously. **"I know you have many words to speak to this wrinkled ape. Be swift, jailor. For when I am done with him, he won't even know his own name."**

Naruto nodded, scowling unforgivingly at the crippled elder.

"Do you seriously think Shisui fought you honestly?" The blonde demanded, pouring all the loathing for the cripple into her glare. "Pfft. Don't make me laugh!"

"The fact of the matter is, Shisui was too kind until the bitter end. He held back against you, I _know _he did. He never liked violence. Thats is the _only _reason you're not maggot shit right now."

Naruto snorted.

"You're a fool." She stated. "Shisui died for this village. For that cursed clan. He could have fixed everything with Kotoamatsukami. He would have achieved his wish of stopping the coup."

Danzo gurgled as more chakra wrapped around his neck and limbs, slowing killing him, and cooking his flesh to crisp.

"But _you,_" Naruto continued, spitting it out as if merely referring to his person made her want to wretch. "You greedy, _foolish _old _bastard. _You stole Shisui's eye, and forced Itachi to bathe in the blood of his _family._"

The blonde's glare lightened, face becoming perfectly solemn.

"You never payed attention to the sunrise, old man. Always so content to wallow in your deceit..."

Outside of her mindscape, Naruto used her blood to draw two different seals on Danzo's heart and stomach.

Within her mind, she returned the cruel smile Danzo had given her earlier.

"You, like so many before, underestimated me. That was one huge mistake. The other, was attacking me. And the third, admitting to your traitorous actions. I now have the jurisdiction to execute you."

Danzo's eyes were wide with pain, and his helpless gurgles did nothing to evoke remorse from the Uzumaki.

"You went into the shadows, and allowed darkness to consume you. You forgot the way of a Leaf shinobi. Who find strength in their comrades. For this, I will make sure your eyes never see the sun again."

"And oh," Naruto said, face lighting up with realization. "Before I forget, Shisui isn't dead."

Danzo paled.

"He's all yours, Kyuubi."

The fox grinned.

His chakra dragged Danzo writhing and gurgling into the thick darkness of his cage.

**"I look forward to our meeting again, little jailor."**

Naruto bowed her head in thanks, a wicked, fanged smile showing through her golden bangs.

"Noted, fox." The blonde said. "Later."

She saluted the grinning beast, her shabby mindscape falling away, and she was back in the Hokage's office with Danzo's arm through her stomach.

The elder's eyes were absent, his mind still trapped in the cage of the Kyuubi. His skin was cracked and peeling, the fox's chakra slithering around his body insidiously.

"**Fuuinjutsu Style: Body Implosion**!"

The seal on Danzo's stomach glowed blue with chakra, and he began spasming wildly, lumps of dark red from liquified entrails spilling out of his mouth, seeping out of his ears, and eyes, and nose...

"**Fuuinjutsu Style Forbidden Art: Soul Steal Jutsu**!"

The seal over the cripple's heart glowed, a purple blob of energy sliding out of it.

Naruto slowly pulled herself off of his rigid arm, wincing deeply, her knees quaking with the effort to hold her own weight up.

She grasped the purple aura, pulling it straight out of Danzo's body.

It was his soul.

Naruto felt Kyuubi deflate within her as she took away his play thing.

"**Fuuinjutsu Style, Forbidden Art: Shinigami's Void.**" Naruto wheezed, using up nearly the last of her split chakra.

Several powerful seals can do that to a girl who was bleeding out and previously split her soul into three pieces.

Lucky for her, she knew what she was doing, and hadn't just dug her own grave.

The Death God's void was different then his Reaper Death seal. With the void, you simply summoned the place for corrupt people, and forced your opponent into it. The Reaper seal summoned the Death God itself, the result, the summoner's life becoming forfeit. The void only required a heinous amount of chakra most shinobi didn't have, and would kill them. Thus, it's forbidden status. Naruto, being a Jinchuuriki, naturally didn't have that problem.

A warp opened in the floor of the office, a swirling vortex of black; purple, corrupted lost souls moaned within the void for a salvation that would never come.

Naruto's hand darted up to Danzo's stolen eye.

"I've been wanting to do this for _ages._" The blonde muttered darkly, sinking her fingers knuckle deep into Danzo's eye socket, and grasping the mangekyou he implanted there.

"This, is not yours."

She tore the orb from his face, ribbons of red squirting out after her brutal action.

Naruto kicked the burnt corpse of the ex elder, and it tumbled into the vortex.

The sluggish souls inside suddenly lunged viciously, eager to drag someone else into their hell, wrapping around the elder's body, until he was swallowed from sight.

The blonde summoned an arm out of Kyuubi's chakra, had it take hold of the purple humanoid blob that was Danzo's soul, and shoved the cripple's essence into the void with his corpse.

The lost souls devoured Danzo's soul as well.

The blonde really couldn't tell the difference between him and them.

Because he was one of them.

He really was rotten to the core.

Naruto crumpled to the floor, a halo of crimson pooling sluggishly around her limp form.

With the last of the chakra she could muster, she created a kage bunshin, and gently pushed Shisui's eye into it's hands.

"Boss...?" The clone questioned uncertainly.

"Hurry..." Naruto rasped wetly, red streaming out of her mouth. "G-get that t-to Shisui... b-before i-it's too l-late, a-and... the cells d-die..."

"Mm." The clone nodded, grim faced.

Naruto smiled weakly when it shunshined away, happy to have been able to save her love.

Her eyes fluttered.

"I'm s-so... t-tired..." The blonde murmured. "I'll j-just close m-my eyes... f-for a little while..."

Blue eyes drifted closed.

The smell of blood filled the air.

* * *

Earlier, with Sasuke and Naruto's soul clone.

The surrogate siblings launched themselves through forest trees after the monster Gaara was visibly morphing in to.

"Naruto..." Sasuke mumbled. "Why... why do you look like that?"

The feral clone pursed her lips.

"Don't worry about that now, boss'll tell you later I'm sure."

Sasuke looked displeased, but dropped it for the time being.

"So you're a clone?" The Uchiha asked instead.

"You could say that." Was the cryptic answer.

"What the hell does that mean?" The Uchiha snapped.

"No time!" The clone yelled. "Go left!"

Sasuke didn't question the order, no matter how much it irritated him, and somersaulted to his left, just in time too.

Sand projectiles zipped through the trees, their small size irrelevant as they reduced the oaks they impacted into splinters.

"Fuck, c'mon Uchiha haul ass!" The clone cursed.

Sasuke glowered.

The duo arrived to the clearing with Gaara, and it was too late.

Just as their sandals touched the grassy ground, Gaara completed a hand seal and slumped with forced sleep.

Sand spilled out around him at alarming rates, building up to a positively dwarfing height.

"Fuck." The clone paled.

Sasuke seemed almost faint, yet, he was still determined to fight.

"What is that?" Sasuke breathed.

"That dear brother, is Shukaku the Sand Spirit. And us? We're fucked."

**"Whoopieee! Free at last! Bahahahahaha! I'm gonna slaughter everyone!"**

The blue venous sand giant looked down at the two genin near his feet, the corners of his razor maw curling into a horrid grin.

**"Starting with you two meatbags..."**

* * *

With the Third, the soul clone was a bit too late.

There was already a volatile rectangular barrier around the Third and the snake, the smoking ash remains of an ANBU that tried to rush in telling the soul clone she was _not _getting in like that.

She turned to the three motionless ANBU standing guard outside, as if that was actually helping.

"What the hell are you doing?" The clone demanded. "Get your asses in there and protect your Hokage!"

"We _can't." _The bird masked operative snapped.

"If you didn't notice, there is a powerful Fuuinjutsu barrier around the fight." Growled the Mouse ANBU.

The bear one remained silent, stiffening as Orochimaru, with the help of his newly revealed lacky Kabuto, summoned the First and the Second Hokages.

The Old Man summoned his staff, the Monkey King Enma to his aid.

A forest of trees twisted to life from the First's hands, and the Second spammed powerful water jutsu after jutsu.

The Old Man never faltered, and gave as much as he got, if not a little more.

_'Jiji... you really want to protect the village, don't you?' _The clone wondered, amazed.

This only made the Naruto clone want to help her Old Man even more.

She glowered at the ANBU with livid red eyes.

"Don't make excuses, find a way around it to help your Hokage." She snapped. "Do your fucking job as elites and _fight._"

Bird and Mouse were giving off vibes that told of hidden glares of scorn.

_'Kyuubi haters huh? Pfft!' _The clone snorted sardonically. _ 'Guess I can never have too many of those.'_

Bear on the other hand, seemed contemplative.

Naruto appreciated this.

"Let me teach you "elites" a thing about Fuuinjutsu." She drawled, sliding her love's tanto from it's sheath. "Take out the chakra source fueling it at this level, which isn't even complicated or forbidden, and you take out the barrier."

The blonde's eyes took note of the two corners visible to her on the roof.

She recognized the four presences that watched her in the Forest of Death as she deadened Orochimaru's arm.

Her blade flashed silver, catching a menacing gleam as she blurred into action.

Red sprayed through the air.

A fat male corpse fell onto it's back thunderously.

A head rolled, orange hair sodden with blood.

"Jirobo you useless fatass!" An angry redhead roared.

The barrier wavered.

The ANBU needed no further proof.

They too, blurred into action.

Naruto's soul clone pursed her lips, feeling her soul pulling to another location.

_'The original is close to death... I don't want to leave Jiji... but I'm as good as dead if I don't return to the original...'_

With one last glance at her valiantly fighting Jiji, the clone bit her lips.

"Che." She gritted. "I've got to go. Protect our Hokage."

The three ANBU nodded as the barrier was destroyed, their uniforms splattered with red.

The Naruto clone, with a heavy heart, shunshined to the Hokage's Tower.

"Shit!" The clone hissed, seeing the amount of blood the original had already lost.

She was even more surprised to find Jiji kneeling at her original's side, gnarled hands alight with soft green healing chakra.

"Ji-"

"No time." The Old Man cut her off, only to look up and smile kindly. "I am merely a kage bunshin. I was sent here to write up an important scroll by my original. Danzo followed, and "dispelled" me from behind to protect his identity, when in reality, I substituted with a tiny scrap of paper."

Naruto's soul clone gawked.

"The reason Naruto was able to kill Danzo with no trouble," The Third clone continued. "Is because I planted a stun tag at the back of his neck just before Naruto dragged him into her mind."

"Wow Old Man, you're pretty damn awesome..." The blonde clone said.

Sarutobi chuckled.

"You don't think the hat I wear is just for show, do you?" He teased.

They both shared a bout of laughter, blanching when they remembered the original Naruto was bleeding out at their feet.

"Crap!" The blonde clone blurted. "Gotta go, Old Man."

Sarutobi inclined his head, and smiled mournfully.

Both clones disappeared at the same time.

Naruto, her soul growing in size, and Sarutobi, disappearing with his originals chakra source.

_'Forgive me... Naruto...'_

* * *

The last soul clone stood with Sasuke, both surrogate siblings covered in lacerations and bruises from being knocked around, cut up with sand, and generally having their asses handed to them.

The clearing around them was descimated.

Temari and Kankuro stood in the cover of the trees, stun tags rendering them useless to Gaara.

Naruto and Sasuke were nearly out of chakra.

**"Bahahahahaha! Had enough yet meatbags!? Are you ready to become mush?" **Shukaku cackled.

"Enough." Sasuke growled, startling the blonde clone. "I've had enough!"

_"I knew he'd get tired of trying to show off eventually.' _The clone thought blandly.

"Naruto." Sasuke barked.

"Hai?"

"Let's end this."

Fanged teeth gleamed with a smile.

"I thought you'd never ask."

The clone turned to the broody Uchiha, channeling Kyuubi chakra into the chidori he was forming.

Sasuke grimaced deeply as the charged chakra damaged his skin. But otherwise, he held strong.

The jutsu chirped, screaming to the high heavens.

It looked like a huge ball of plasma, charged full of their combined chakra, spinning rapidly with the colors of white, red, violet, and blue.

Naruto shunshined them atop the rampaging sand monster.

They woke Gaara up.

* * *

Sakura and Hinata gaped at the behemoth blinding white explosion that obliterated the far forest.

Shukaku wailed in anguish, his entire form creaked when the light cleared.

'Holy shit', was the collective thought of everyone who saw.

He had been turned completely to glass.

He shattered.

* * *

Feeling her soul pull as the first clone reunited with the original, she slapped Sasuke on the back in congratulations.

He immediately fainted in chakra exhaustion.

The clone caught him, slinging her brother over her back, and began her long, shambling trek out of the crater she helped to create.

She was going to bring Sasuke to the hospital.

And then, merge with the original.

_'I did it... Itachi... I protected Sasuke... and he surprised me by protecting our village...'_

She looked up at the sky, wondering if somewhere, wherever that was, if Itachi was too.

_'You would be so proud of our little brother... just like I am.'_


	25. Sunshine, The End

**Im so sorry if this is rushed. It's just, I've sorta lost interest in this story. But, I'll probably post a sequel if people really want me to, because I have some ideas on how to continue this. But until that time, thank you all who followed, favorited, and reviewed.**

**I don't own Naruto or the cover image. Enjoy.**

* * *

Groggily, Naruto's blue eyes slid open.

She was alarmed to sense several familiar presences around her.

"-and you know what she did after I told her loved her?"

"What what?!" Sakura and Ino squealed. "Jeez Shisui just _tell _us already!"

_'Shisui? Sakura? Ino? What... __WHAT THE FUCK__!?'_

"It was absolutely adorable." Shisui gushed. "She got _so _nervous she _threw up _on me."

"Omgeeeeee!" Sakura and Ino squealed.

"WHAT!?" Kiba hollered. "That doesn't sound like something the Yankee would do at _all._"

"Tell us an embarrassing story about Naruto." Choji suggested, munching on something.

"Oooh~ That sounds lovely." Kakashi-sensei hummed deviously.

_SMACK!_

"Kakashi you're supposed to be an adult!"

"Ouchie, so mean Iruka-chan."

"Stop flirting you two." Neji deadpanned.

"Yes, please do." Shino intoned. "If you fail to comply, my insects will become so sickened, they will begin devouring each other to end their own suffering."

Silence.

"W-we're n-n-n-n-not f-f-f-flirting!" Iruka sputtered.

"Kakashi, I didn't know you swung that way..." Jiraiya said lecherously.

"Maa maa, make fun if you will, there's nothing going on but me poking fun at Iruka-sensei. He's just so easy to rile up you see."

"Hatake you insufferable bastard." The dolphin grumbled.

"Ignored again it seems." Shino sighed sulkily.

Jiraiya released a booming laugh as Kakashi shook his head, the sound of pages turning to a marked place wafting up.

"Perv." Asuma muttered.

"Unacceptable." Kurenai hummed blandly.

"Whatever. You guys are way too troublesome..." Shikamaru grumbled.

"YOSH, IT SEEMS WE HAVE ALL UNITED AS COMRADES IN THE PRESENCE OF SHISUI-SAN AND HIS LOVE FOR NARUTO-CHAN!"

"YOSH LEE-KUN, THAT'S THE SPIRIT! CONGRATULATE OUR COMRADES ON THE SPRINGTIME BEAUTY THAT IS LOVE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"_GAI-SENSEI!"_

_"LEE!"_

_"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?"_

A pregnant pause ensued.

"Naruto!" Hinata exclaimed, breaching said silence.

"Baby you're awake!" Shisui beamed.

-Insert bouts of squealing, courtesy of Sakura and Ino here-

Naruto was sitting up in her hospital bed, having just ripped off her breathing mask, and her eyes traveled to every person in the room.

Shisui chose that moment to be a complete moron.

"So anyways, back to Story Time With Shisui. Did I ever tell you guys about the time Naruto walked in on me in the shower?"

This, caught the rapt attention of even Hinata.

Shisui grinned deviously.

"So, I was crashing at Naru-chan's place for the day, minding my own business whe-"

Naruto made a strange strangled noise somewhere between a yelp and a dying vulture.

"Shut up you dumbass!" The blonde hissed, her hand slapped over his big mouth, face beet red. "Don't tell them about _that!_"

"Why?" Kiba drawled slyly. "Because you don't want us to know how you're actually just a shy girl under all that bad mouthing and sucker punching?"

Hinata giggled behind her hand when Naruto did a good imitation of her.

"S-shut up!" Naruto stuttered. "That's not true! I'll kick your ass fleebag!"

Akamaru released doggy wheezes equivalent to laughter.

Kiba flushed.

"Why _you-!"_

"Well, this has been swell and all, but I'd like to properly welcome my girlfriend back to the land of not sleeping for two whole months."

"WHAT!?" Naruto squawked.

Sakura and Ino were squealing yet again as the idiotic Uchiha waggled his brows suggestively.

And horrifyingly enough, so were Jiraiya and Kakashi.

Asuma and Shikamaru began grumbling, but couldn't be mad about being indirectly told to beat it because Shisui was such a nice and charming guy. It was just _impossible _to dislike him.

Everyone shuffled out of the room to Naruto's utter astonishment, the door clicking shut behind them.

"I'm glad you finally found your way back, Naruto-chan." Shisui smiled softly, no longer the goofy face reserved for friends.

This...

This was a look only Naruto got to see...

"Shisui..." The blonde whispered, awed. "Your eyes..."

"Yeah," Shisui looked generally happy, both of his midnight eyes twinkling with his light mood. "Imagine my surprise when your kage bunshin _literally _came crashing into your bedroom window waving my _eyeball _around in her hand like a maniac."

Naruto couldn't help chuckling at that image.

"That must of been an experience." She snorted.

Shisui rolled his eyes.

"Yes, it was absolutely magical." He deadpanned.

Naruto laughed.

"So...?" She goaded. "I've been out of it for two months? And... apparently, everyone knows you, you're friends, and they're not freaked out that we're a thing?"

"Well, when they showed up to the hospital after the invasion, Asuma-senpai actually fainted."

"Hey wait... how did I even end up at the hospital anyways?" Naruto asked.

"Well, after I got the other half of my soul- everyone knows about that too- I went looking for you, as your bunshin dispelled as soon as it knew it had successfully delivered my eye."

"I found you in Hokage-sama's office in a pool of blood and about as lively as death."

Naruto winced.

"That old cripple did a real number on me... Jiji's the only reason I was able to take that traitor down... And Sasuke helped me defeat the Ichibi..."

And suddenly, the mood of the room became somber.

"Shisui...?" Naruto looked at her love uncertainly. "What's wrong...?"

"Naruto."

Naruto found her heart broke every previous time Shisui had used that tone of voice.

The blonde swallowed.

"Yes...?"

"Lord Third, is dead. And Sasuke left the village a week after he recovered from chakra exhaustion. Which, only had him out for six days."

Naruto's eyes clouded.

Shisui panicked.

"Th-they left these for you!" He blurted, pushing two scrolls into the blonde's numb hands.

When the Uchiha saw Naruto was unresponsive, he pricked her finger on the Third's scroll, knowing it wouldn't open without her DNA.

"I'll read it to you, okay Sunshine?"

Naruto didn't respond. She didn't even seem to be there...

Sadly, Shisui looked down, and began reading.

_My dearest little prankster, _

_I realize by writing this, that I am possibly making your grief even worse. I would like to apologize for that, Naruto. I don't have much time to write this, and there is so many things I would like to tell you. But I must hurry, as time is of the essence. First, I want to tell you, that I am very proud of how far you've come as a shinobi and a young woman, Naruto. I still remember that loud little troublemaker who would run around my office and demand I tell her stories about my youth and the Fourth Hokage. I am glad I gave you the materials you needed to become the splendid Fuuinjutsu master you are rapidly approaching my dear. Thinking about all the training grounds you blew up, even now, it brings a smile to this Old Man's face. Second, I want to ask you not to dwell on my death for too long, as you have more people who care about you than you probably realize, and the list will only grow with time. Also, I want you to know I am happy to die for my people and this village. I am happy to have lived to be so old, and to have met you, my darling granddaughter. I would have my end in no other way than to know my people and village are safe from harm. Please continue to be a wonderful inspiration to my grandson Konohamaru. You two are so similar it is laughably staggering. Third, I want you to never forget those people to whom are precious to you, and always strive to protect them. Never forget your Will of Fire, Naruto-chan, and I know you will be just fine._

_-Your Jiji, _

_Sarutobi Hiruzen. _

Shisui looked up, the letter having brought tears to even his eyes.

He saw Naruto on her hospital bed, biting trembling lips, trying to hold in the tears, hands clenched so hard in her sheets her knuckles were white.

"Jiji..." Naruto choked.

"Oh Naruto..." Shisui said helplessly, climbing onto her bed to be by her side.

He took his trembling love into his arms, pulling her into his lap and rocking her back and forth comfortingly.

Naruto sobbed deeply into his shoulder, her hands clenching his shirt, her muffled wails racking her frame with grief.

It took a good fifteen minutes for her to calm down, but her form was still weary. Her eyes still sad, and full of tears.

"Shisui..." The blonde croaked. "Sasuke's... I-I need..."

"What?" Shisui asked. "Naruto, are you sure?"

The blonde nodded mutely, words failing her.

"O-okay... if thats what you want, Naruto..." Shisui whispered.

She nodded again.

Shisui undid the second scroll, not needing the blonde's blood, as it was a simple scroll you could buy from anywhere.

He cleared his throat.

_Hey loser,_

_You better not be sulking around. Just so you know, even though it's not really any of your business, I'm not leaving for good. The Third killed Orochimaru with the help of the Death God, because the snake was weakened from having one of his arms already missing. Kabuto got away, and is probably trying to find a way to bring Orochimaru back even as I write this. I waited a week for you to wake up, but you're such a loser, you stayed asleep and kept me waiting. I know Shisui isn't dead. I saw him while visiting you. We talked, and he was even more cryptic than you. And I know that it has something to do with you and Itachi. But, I know you won't tell me, because all you ever do is try to protect me. I know you're keeping big things for me, and I don't want to ever start hating you for lying to me all this time. That's part of the reason I left. The other, is to get stronger for the days to come. I don't need Orochimaru, and I don't need Kabuto. You sealed away the cursed seal, and now I have a seal that looks like the sun. I kind of like it, even if it reminds me of someone as lame as you. And don't worry. You don't need to protect me anymore. I see light at the end of the darkness. I haven't shut my eyes. But, I decided to find the truth on my own. And when I do, I promise I'll come home. You never go back on your word, right Naruto? What kind of brother would I be if I did?_

_-Sasuke_

_Ps._

_Make me some of those stupid octopus sausages when I get back._

Rudely, everyone who had previously been in the room burst back into said space, some to comfort the blonde, (having been shamelessly eavesdropping), and others because they had nothing better to do.

Hinata, Sakura, and Kurenai being the only ones Shisui was okay with being close to the blonde.

"Why are all of your friends dudes?" The Uchiha pouted.

_'Friends...' _Naruto thought, her head shoved into Hinata's bosom as the gentle Hyuga hugged the life out of her, Kurenai fussing over her by running her fingers through golden locks, and Ino and Sakura had taken hold of the blonde's hands, cooing comforting words at her.

_'I think I... could get used to... this...'_

Naruto was surprised, and it showed, as she was gawking at everyone with wide, teary eyes.

_'These people... they care.' _She thought, astonished._ 'They actually care...b-because we're comrades... so... maybe, maybe I'll be alright.'_

Naruto finally comprehended her own realization, and lit up the room with a radiant smile. _'I'm gonna be alright. I just need to remember these people. I need to remember what it means, when something is precious.'_

_'You are so unbeilevably beautiful...' _Shisui smiled, placing a comforting hand atop his love's soft golden hair.

_'And you wonder why I call you Sunshine.'_

* * *

The End.

* * *

_Well, for now..._


End file.
